The Rebirth of the Undomesticated Equine
by genhoss
Summary: Shortly after fleeing the Amazon village, Ranma and his father are approached by a stranger seeking their help… Specifically Ranma’s… Ranma Stargate SG-1 xover
1. Prelude

The Rebirth of the Undomesticated Equine

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the series Stargate SG-1 or Ranma ½ I am merely using them for my own entertainment.

Many thanks to James Axelrad, whose assistance with this fic has been invaluable.

FYI- the events in this chapter take place for SG-1 during season five before the episode birthright. For Ranma events were changed shortly after getting cursed that will be revealed in later chapters.

11234543

2314

34

Cassie stared at her plate waiting for Jack and Teal'c to finish their dinner so she could escape to the guestroom or watch TV. It's not that she did not like their company, no she enjoyed being around them well enough its just as of late she was getting tired of everyone treating her like some kid.

Sure she not quite sixteen years old but back on her home planet of Hanka she might have been married by now with a family of her own. Of course its not that she wanted to go back to Hanka as one the world was completely lifeless and two she rather enjoyed her life among the Tau'ri.

Cassie sighed, despite the fact that Jack and Teal'c were good company most of the time she had not wanted to go into the middle of nowhere Minnesota and stay at Jacks cabin for the week while her mother and Sam were pre-occupied with some top secret national security thingy. Not that she was certain whatever her mother and Sam were doing was top secret

"Yoo-hoo… earth to Cassie…"

"Huh?" Cassie replied having tuned out the odd ramblings between Jack and Teal'c.

Sighing Jack replied, "I asked if you wanted to do the dishes or go outside and gather up some wood for later."

"We're going to have a fire?" Cassie asked.

"It gets a little chilly in late august in Minnesota." Jack stated.

Tapping her chin as if she were in deep thought Cassie pondered out loud, "If I'm doing the dishes… Then who is gathering up the fire wood?"

Jack rolled his eyes at the teen and was about to make a witty reply when he noticed that Teal'c was now giving him the Jaffa's Eyebrow. Shrugging his shoulders in resignation Jack said, "Well… I figured that while one of you was doing the dishes and the other gathering the fire wood, that I'd be in the other room starting a fire."

Noticing that Teal'c was not relenting in his gaze Jack shrugged and sighed, "Fine… I'll start the fire and then dry the dishes… Satisfied?"

Teal'c glanced over at Cassie, seeing her satisfied nod he turned back to Jack and with a smug grin he answered, "Indeed."

Dissatisfied with losing Jack glanced around to everyone's plates and smirked, Turning his attention to Cassie he said, "Well, if you 're finished with dinner you could gather up the wood now…" Glancing out the window he added, "Better hurry up looks like it is going to storm. You don't want to get wet now do ya?"

Holding back a faint growl of resignation Cassie go up from the table and not very gently put her plate down next to the sink, turned and left the room in a huff.

Jack leaned back, a satisfied smirk on his face and looked over at Teal'c. Noticing the Jaffa's frown he employed his most innocent face and asked, "What?"

123453421

Cassie slid the back door shut with a growl of annoyance. She knew that Jack was just being Jack but it still grated on her nerves when she was treated like a child. After taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself down Cassie noticed how chilly it was outside and shivered involuntarily. She considered going back in to get her jacket but then ruled that out as a matter of stubborn pride. So with her arms wrapped around her torso in an effort to keep herself from feeling the effects of the chilly evening air Cassie started to make her way over to the wood pile.

As she walked over to the woodpile Cassie could not help but to look around, Jacks cabin's back yard was mostly well groomed and free of clutter, sure there was the odd tree and bush here and there and there was a small pier going 15 feet into the lake some fifty feet away from the cabin. But in the early dusk hours a there was a slight fog coming off of lake making the whole area seem creepy enough that a simple flash of lightning caused Cassie to jump in surprise. As the rolling sound of thunder passed by Cassie had managed to calm her nerves and resume her short trek to the woodpile.

Walking along the tree line Cassie began to get a bit paranoid feeling as if there was someone or thing watching her every move. She shook her head at that. After all she had came from a agricultural society with little to no technology where walks in the woods were a common everyday occurrence and no little walk from a cabin to a wood pile should not be capable of getting her nerves in a bunch.

Arriving at the woodpile Cassie began to gather an overly large bundle in her arms, having not realized that Jack had a basket sitting next to the fireplace for gathering wood. Just as she decided that she could not possibly carry anymore wood the feeling of being watched returned to her tenfold. Once again Cassie attempted to shake the feeling off, she knew that there were a fair amount of wild animals up at and around Jacks cabin so it was probably some squirrel or something gathering food to store for the winter and thus no threat to her. Still though the tiny hairs on the back of her neck were standing strait up signifying some hidden threat.

Closing her eyes for a second Cassie turned her body towards the tree line and counted to ten, upon reaching ten she opened her eyes and sighed in relief. There was nothing there, no animals, no ax-wielding maniac, nothing. Chastising herself for her own paranoia she went to turn away and make her way back to the cabin another streak of lightning flashed across the sky, this time the ominous roar of thunder followed it almost immediately. Not wanting to get caught up in the rain Cassie went to take a step forward only to pause as she heard the sound of a twig breaking and some sort of metallic rattling coming from behind her. Spinning around rapidly her foot became caught on a stray log, forcing her off balance. With a shriek that was masked by another roar of thunder Cassie fell to the ground.

12334455665211

Jack smiled warmly as the fire began to spread to life, engulfing the kindling and thought, "_Ahh… Nothing like a nice relaxing fire after a long day of fishing… Now if only Hockey season had started up so I'd have something to listen to." _Looking over to the door where one of his bags was still laying untouched from last night's late arrival Jack amended, "_Though I could always catch up on the Simpson's… Got over a half of __a __season to watch."_

Standing up Jack stretched out his lanky frame and resigned himself to go help Teal'c with the dishes.

1234t352

Teal'c nearly hummed to himself as he started to wash the dishes, it was only the old Jaffa adage that, 'Jaffa do not humm' that saved him from possible embarrassment. Having donned an old flowery apron with frilly lace on it Teal'c checked the dishwater to make sure that the temperature was at the nominal range for dishwashing. Nodding to himself he often wondered why the Tau'ri seemed reluctant and outright unwilling to do some of the more menial tasks that appeared on a day-to-day basis.

Heck back on Chu'lac, Teal'c would have slain many of his false gods sworn enemies just for a chance to do dishes as he found the task to be soothing and relaxing after the events of a long day.

Hearing the shuffling of feat that signified the return of his Tau'ri friend O'Neill, Teal' paused in his scrubbing and looked over at the kitchen doorway half expecting a wisecrack for the attire he had willingly donned. After all it was always fun to get a rise out of your friends when they half expected you to be ignorant of their customs.

Jack paused in the doorway to find Teal'c wearing one of his ex-wife Sara's aprons and blinked.

Teal'c responded by raising his Eyebrow in the ever-threatening manner.

Inwardly Jack shrugged figuring that sometimes it was just best not to ask, and continued his trek to the counter where he picked up a clean dishrag to dry the dishes.

Picking up a newly washed mug Jack began to dry it off and put it away in an attempt to take his mind off of Teal'c choice in dishwashing attire. Unfortunately Jack was a smart ass at heart and could not leg go of the ridiculous sight of the large man in the frilly apron. Calmly picking up a plate Jack gave his companion a slight smirk and shot out, "Nice apron… Most people wouldn't be able to make that work but somehow it just suits you… "

"O'Neill. Is it not wise to wear protective covering to prevent the possible staining of clothes?"

Even though Jack already knew that little tidbit of information he had not really thought of it like that. However with the plain as day way that Teal'c had chosen to respond to him somehow implanted the vision of watching Teal'c charge into battle against a large group of Jaffa wearing a frilly pink apron that had, 'Kiss the Cook' written across the front. Despite the absurd mental imagery Jack managed a very guarded, "I suppose…" After all sometimes it was best not to give Teal'c idea's.

"I noticed that there was a spare in the closet if you so desire to protect your own clothes."

Jack shuddered to himself, the other apron was even worse looking than the one Teal'c was sporting. The only reason he had not tossed either of them away was that there might come a time when he needed to make some spare rags or something. So in a valiant attempt to change the topic of conversation Jack mused, "Wonder what's taking Cassie so long?"

"Perhaps she is merely attempting to stave off the task given to her in the hopes that you will have forgotten asking her in the first place." Teal's answered calmly.

"Naw… I heard her go outside… And T it's called procrastinating." Jack drawled out lazily as he made his way over the window next to the stove so he could check the woodpile. "

"Sides… I saw Cassie go outside… And from looking at the skies, she'd better hurry otherwise she's gonna get soaked…" Jack added after a moment of silence as he approached the window.

Jack stopped at the window and peered outside, he knew from his vantage point that he would not have a totally clear view of the woodpile but regardless he should be able to see if Cassie was out there or not. Looking out the window he couldn't see the young teen at first and was about to return to the sink to grab another plate as the one he was drying was about as dry as it was going to get. Just as he was about to turn away though he caught a glimpse of the back end off Cassie's head sticking out from behind the woodpile, partially obscured from view.

Not seeing any sign of movement on Cassie's behalf Jack swore, "Fuck…" Knowing the tendency that his cabin has to attract wild animals every now and then Jack tossed the plate on the counter and made a dash out of the room while alerting Teal'c with, "T… I'm gonna go check on Cassie… If I'm not back in a few minutes, you know where my side arm is…"

Noticing the larger man nod Jack hurried out of the room and headed towards the fireplace. Once there he lifted his old double barrel shotgun from its perch and began to fumble with the keys to his safe for the ammunition.

Once he opened the safe he reached in without sparing the insides a glance, having long ago memorized its contents. Jack shoved the shotgun under his arm and retracted his hand he stuffing the majority of shells into his pocket while he loaded the weapon with his other hand.

Stepping over to the sliding door that lead into the back yard Jack paused briefly to get control of himself, knowing that what ever was happening he had to be careful for Cassie's sake.

Just as he stepped outside the sky's light up with another flash of lightning, immediately accompanied by the roar of thunder. Cautiously he stalked forward his eyes homed into the spot where he knew Cassie was laying. Unable to see her partially due to the fading light and the slight mist coming from the pond Jack cursed himself for placing the woodpile that far away from the Cabin. Silently he began to angle his approach in an attempt to clear his field of vision of all the obstructions that were in the way.

At twenty feet he could see the top of her head but was unable to see any other details, not hearing any of the sounds that Jack would have associated with an animal attack gave him enough pause to focus on his hearing. Unfortunately the only thing he could hear was a faint rustling.

At fifteen feet Jack could still not see the rest of Cassie's body but could hear the faint rustling sounds coming from behind the woodpile. For a moment he was torn, should he continue to creep forward unseen by whatever was behind the woodpile or should he step into the open and get a good read on the situation.

Deciding that getting a handle on the situation was more important Jack took another few steps to the side and nearly dropped his shotgun in the process.

1234565431

Cassie groaned to herself, having tripped over a stray log and fallen on her back. Swearing to herself she started to brush off the logs that she had been carrying that were now strewn across her torso and to her sides, off of herself.

Hearing the metallic rustling sound again, almost sounding as if what ever thing that was making the noise was right on top of her, Cassie closed her eye's half afraid of what she was going to see. Idly she thought about how dirty she must look with the softened tree bark all over her shirt not to mention the slightly damp ground to her back. The thought of looking like such a mess when Jack and Teal'c found her body caused a nervous giggle to escape her lips.

Shaking her head to clear away the morbid thoughts Cassie started to lift her head, after all if she could survive having a bomb in her chest then surely what ever it was that was out there could not be that bad.

Her body now half propped up by her elbows Cassie opened her eyes half expecting anything from a wild ferocious animal to a circus elephant, though she was pretty sure that a circus elephant would have made a heck of a lot more noise. Needless to say Cassie was pretty much expecting Damm near anything, anything that is except bright blue eyes that blinked owlishly upon eye contact.

Cassie froze wide-eyed as she went into near shock as the supposed wild animal stalked forward and crept over her body on all fours.

Snapping out of it Cassie realized that this was no wild animal as she could tell that despite all the mud and grass there was a young girl around her age there, especially considering that this new girl was only wearing a very ratty and worn tank top that left her generous cleavage on display, bouncy freely, almost right in front of Cassie's face. Tearing her gaze away from the other girls endowments Cassie noted a few other things, it turns out that the metal scraping noise she had been hearing was coming from this girls ankles and possibly her neck as the girl had heavy looking shackles around her ankles and a thick collar that also had a length of chain dangling from it.

Not knowing what to think Cassie tried to avoid thinking about how this girl had gotten into such a state. Shifting her gaze back to the girl's face she realized that this girl had red hair. At first glance, with all the mud and dirt caked on Cassie hadn't been sure, but now that she got a good look at the other girl's face she could definitely see it.

Totally out of her league in her current situation Cassie tried the first thing she could think of and nervously muttered, "Uhnn…. Hi."

The girls mouth moved and an inhuman pitiful whine came out. At first Cassie had thought that the girl meowed at her but quickly shook her head at that, as her imagination must have gotten carried away. She was about to ask the girl something, anything to get her talking but noticed the redhead seemly sway on her hands and feet before they totally gave out on her causing the girl to collapse on top of her, forcing them both back flat onto the ground.

"Well… This is Awkward…" Cassie stated wryly as she realized that perhaps she should have worn a bit more of a concealing shirt as she now found herself with a unconscious redheads mouth wide open and literally drewling down her chest.

Taking in a deep breath Cassie attempted to move the girl on top of her into a less embarrassing position only to realize that the girl was dead weight and that she was not strong enough to mover her off of herself. To make matters worse in jostling the redhead she did manage to mover her, albeit slightly. So now instead of the girl 's mouth resting on just one of her breasts her entire face had become nestled in between them, causing Cassie's face to turn beet red in embarrassment.

"Cassie?"

43151

453125

4135

I have more that I will release later this weekend, I'm not sure when though as it depends on where I decide to cut the next chapter off at.

Thank you for reading.


	2. Chapter 1

Cassie stared at her plate waiting for Jack and Teal'c to finish their dinner so she could escape to the guestroom or watch tv

Undomesticated Equine

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the series Stargate SG-1 or Ranma ½ I am merely using them for my own entertainment.

Also I'd like to thank James Axelrad for all his help with this fic.

12343564321

Many things could be said about Jack O'Neill, that he hesitated under the slightest bit of pressure was not one of them. So when he came into view of Cassie's body and saw a barely dressed girl laying on top of Cassie his mind went into automatic, after all there were no other cabins within several miles of his and for a girl to be in such a state meant that there was something sinister afoot.

So it was not surprising when he did not allow himself to slip into inactiveness at the sight before him

Jack softly called out, "Cassie." To make sure that the young girl was all right. While waiting for a response Jack carefully knelt down and set the shotgun on the ground while examining Cassie from his position of a few feet away. Thinking she looked fine except perhaps a bit flushed Jack asked again, "Cassie are you alright?"

Cassie groaned to herself, she had so not wanted to be found in her current predicament and answered with a quiet mumble, "I'm fine Jack."

Jack sighed in relief and turned his attention to the other girl on top of Cassie as he rose up from his kneeling position and strode over to where he was alongside the two. Kneeling down once again Jack began to give the two a quick once over as another flash of lightning lit up the skies, reminding him of the upcoming storm. Turning his attention back to Cassie whom was looking quite flushed Jack decided to put her at ease.

As Jack was checking and confirming the unknown girls injuries he asked, "So… this type of thing happen often?"

"Huhh… What?"

"You know I can understand why your mom and you get into rows all the time." Jack pressed on, inwardly frowning as he continued to find various chaff marks, cuts, bruises, gashes and scratches along the nearly naked girls frame.

"What? You do?" Cassie answered not knowing where Jack was going with what he was saying.

"Yeah when I was your age I had the same problem." Jack continued, barely holding back a frown as he checked the girl for more serous injuries.

"You did?" Cassie asked forgetting about the girls position on top of her in favor of listening to Jack.

"Yeah, my mom didn't like it when she found me with nearly naked girls laying on top of me either." Jack stated, while sporting a rather bemused grin, meant to comfort Cassie as he traced his hand around the collar on the girls neck realizing that there was a lot more to it than it just being an ordinary collar.

Cassie's mouth froze in mid reply while before she realized that Jack was joking with her. Attempting to get some measure of verbal revenge she replied, "Well you know how it is…"

"How what is, Cassandra Fraiser?" Asked a certain Jaffa having just finished doing a quick perimeter sweep after noticing that Jack had things well in hand with Cassie.

Deciding to spare the young girl any further embarrassment Jack interrupted, "Hey T… Can you get the door for me? We need to get this girl inside before it starts to rain…"

The big Jaffa nodded his assent and was about to turn and make his way back to the cabin when Jack added, "Could you grab my gun… I sort of have my hands full at the moment."

Carefully so as to not aggravate any unknown injuries on the girl Jack rolled her off of Cassie

Now free, Cassie hurriedly stood up, backing away she could not help but to stare at the girl with a worried frown once again wondering what had happened to her to bring her into such a state.

"Cassie could you go inside and gather some blankets to wrap this girl up in?" Jack asked. Not hearing a response Jack turned his head to the girl and whistled.

Hearing the loud shrieking whistle Cassie jumped in surprise. Realizing that Jack had been attempting to tell her something she placed her hand over her chest and shot the man a dirty look.

Giving off a not so apologetic smile Jack restated, "Cassie, Could you go inside and gather up several blankets to wrap this girl up in."

Cassie nodded and went to leave but paused suddenly and asked, "Shouldn't we clean her up first?"

Jack shook his head sadly and replied, "No, there could be evidence for the police to… You know."

Cassie paled slightly as she headed off, she really did not want to think about what had happened to the girl as while she didn't see the people of earth through rose tinted glasses, she had not experienced their darker nature first hand either.

Now that Cassie had left Jack was able to get a good look at the girls face and could not help but to think of how young the girl looked. Swallowing the fury that he felt whenever he saw a child abused or used for someone else's so called greater good, he slowly gathered the girl into his arms. As he rose to his feet Jack was barely able to hold back a groan as he thought, "_Either this girl is heavier than she looks or I'm getting too old… Maybe I should have had Teal'c carry her in."_

His knees protested as he rose to his feet and took a small step forward, careful so that he did not trip over the mess of logs left from Cassie's spill. Just as he was about to take another step though, the skies lit up once again while the heavens roared with fury signifying the start of a very heavy rain.

Jack paused and looked up into the skies and muttered, "Just frick'en great… Couldn't wait two more minutes could ya." Taking a quick step forward Jack looked down to the redhead in his arms and said, "Well let's get you inside before you get totally soaked."

123456765431

Jack sighed once he stepped inside, noticing Teal'c slide the door closed behind him, he looked to see where Cassie had set out the blankets to wrap the girl in his arms in. Figuring that the bundle on the floor in front of the fireplace were the blankets he had asked Cassie to gather he looked over to Teal'c and asked, "A little help here T… Mind spreading out those blankets so I can wrap this girl up."

Teal'c's only reply was a slight nod of the head as he stepped forward to do as he was asked, only to be interrupted by Cassie.

"I'm sorry I was looking for a few more blankets… Let me help you Teal'c."

Once Cassie and Teal'c finished making the impromptu bed Jack knelt down and gently deposited his burden. Standing back up he winced, as his knees seemed to protest their recent abuse. Making his way over to his Jacket he said, "I'm going to call the sheriff see if he can get an ambulance down here. Teal'c keep an eye out… Whomever…" gesturing to the redhead wrapped in blankets on the floor while showing his disgust at her condition, "Did this… Might be out looking for her and it would be best to not be caught off guard till the Sheriff can get here."

Having reached his Jacket and pulled out his phone Jack quickly dialed the sheriffs office, hearing an old friend pick up he sighed in relief and started, "Bill… It's Jack..."

"…"

"Look, I need you to come out to my cabin with an ambulance."

"…"

"You got to be kidding me!"

"…."

"Look, I found this girl our in my yard…"

"…"

"No she's not dead. But I'm not sure what's wrong with her… She's unconscious now."

"…"

"You sure?"

"…"

"Damm… So what do you want me to do? I don't want to leave her like she is…"

"…"

"She's half naked… Filthy… and has various gashes, cuts and chaff marks all over her."

"…"

"There's metal restraints on her ankles and a collar on her neck with a chain/leash thingy attached to it."

"…"

"Dammit Bill I'm not making this up."

"…"

"Fine… I'll take care of it and hopefully by morning the roads will be clear…."

"…."

"Yeah I got it… See you tomorrow." Jack finished with a sigh while flipping his phone closed. Looking over to his two guests he asked, "So the bad news or the worse news?"

Noticing the questioning looks on their faces Jack started, "Bad news it is… About a half hour ago there was a flash flood knocking the bridge out of commission, not to mention that the roads are probably already littered with fallen trees… Anyway the earliest that the Sheriff thinks he can make it out here is sometime late tomorrow morning."

Fidgeting slightly because she was almost afraid to ask what the worse news Cassie knelt down and occupied her hands attempting to straiten out their impromptu guests covers.

Seeing that his silence was making Cassie nervous Jack decided to wait until he and Teal'c were alone before he talked about what else the sheriff had said. Striding over to the sliding door Jack glimpsed outside at the raging storm and said, "Cassie, I'm going to have to barrow your camera… And T… wanna go outside and grab the fire wood that **somebody** forgot to bring in."

"Hey!" Cassie objected, "I'd like to see you remember something when some half naked girl collapses on top of you."

Jack couldn't help but let the amused snort leave his mouth. Reining in control of himself he reminded, "Cassie… Camera…. Teal'c, there's an umbrella by the door and a basket for the wood right next to the fireplace." Now that Cassie had left the room Jack added quietly, "And T, keep an eye out, we might not be alone out here."

Having already stashed Jacks side arm under his shirt in the waistband of his jeans, picked up both the umbrella and wood basket the stoic Jaffa nodded and stated, "I shall endeavor to keep my eyes open."

Now that Teal'c had left to go outside Jack began to remove the blankets off of his latest houseguest. When Cassie arrived in the room moments later she asked worriedly, "Uhm… Jack, what are you doing?'

Jack looked up from his position next to the girl and said, "Cassie I want you go into the bathroom and get everything ready for a bath, except don't fill the tub…" Noticing that his requests were contradicting each other he clarified, "I want you to use the detachable nozzle thingy and spray down the tub with warm water so it isn't freezing cold. Then after I get done taking a few pictures for the police I'm going to need you to help clean our guest up some. I know it's a lot to ask but you would really be helping me out here."

Cassie nodded and made her way into the bathroom just as Jack began to take the first of several photo's.

1232454563241

While Jack was taking pictures Teal'c returned to the cabin, noticing what his friend was doing Teal'c quietly set down wood basket and took off his boots. There were times in which the former first prime did not envy his friend and this was one of those times. He knew that despite the wise cracking tough exterior that Jack O'Neill was a huge softy when it came to children and for him having to go through and categorize a young girls injuries like he was worse than being tortured by the Goa'uld.

He was about to leave the room to offer his friend some time to himself and his task when he heard, "Teal'c… come over here for a sec… Tell me what you make of this." Jack asked while pointing to something on the collar around the girls neck.

Walking over Teal'c knelt down and examined the area in question, looking over at his friend he offered, "It appears to be some sort of collar."

Jack rolled his eyes and bit back his usual retort and explained, "Yeah but watch." Taking the collar in his hand Jack began to spin it around the girls neck looking for the clasp. "Now look at this" Jack stated while he tilted the girls head side ways, revealing twin bulges in the soft section of the collar. After exploring one of the areas with his finger Jack was able to find a seam that pulled away.

Sucking in his breath Jack swore as he uncovered to nearly empty ampoules of liquid that were in turn attached to another device.

"O'Neill… I am unfamiliar with this sort of device." Teal'c stated as a frown darkened his features.

"Me too buddy… But I don't have to be a genius astrophysicist to guess what it is…" Looking back at the former first prime and noticing that Teal'c was still looking uncertain he clarified, "Drugs Teal'c… Whomever put this collar on her has been force feeding her drugs."

Teal'c stared at the device for a minute before he asked, "What course of action do you wish to take?"

Jack growled in aggravation and replied, "I don't know… Damm thing is stuck on her neck… I don't see a clasp anywhere, from the looks of it it's mostly leather I think but…" Gesturing with his hand, "If you look here and there you can see that there are at least a few strips of metal inside this thing. I should have some cutters laying around here someplace to take it off. We'll just have to be careful not to activate the thing that dispenses the drug."

Rising to his feet Jack said, "I'll be right back, I'm going to see if I can figure out where I put those cutters… Teal'c do me a favor and take our guest into the bathroom and set her in the tub and ask Cassie to start cleaning her up."

Pausing just before he left the room Jack added, "Oh and Teal'c… Don't throw out her clothes, the police will need them."

Teal'c nodded while Jack made his way over to his bedroom where he started to go through his closet, looking for an old toolbox.

Teal'c reached over and gathered the redhead into his arms, then once he was certain he had a good hold on her he rose up and grunted in surprise as he found out that for someone so small she certainly weighed more than she appeared.

123451233412

Cassie hummed to herself as she warmed up the tub in an attempt to keep herself calm. The events within the past hour or so where almost overwhelming her as she kept thinking back to how the girl looked when she had first stumbled upon her. She was thankful though of Jacks efforts to keep her busy and preoccupied as doing something helped her from thinking about it too much.

However when she had walked in the main room and saw Jack taking off the blankets so he could take pictures of the girls injuries the situation started to overwhelm her as she was once again visually reminded of the injuries the girl had, the state that she had found her in as well as the many mysteries surrounding her.

Pressing her free hand against the tub Cassie wondered why she was even spraying down the tub. While thankful to Jack that it was somewhat helping to keep her nerves calm, it seemed like a futile task, especially when the person about to be placed in it was not even conscious. Hearing a noise behind her Cassie jerked around, spray showerhead in hand drenching a certain Jaffa's pants.

To his credit though the big Jaffa did not scowl as he stood there sopping wet from the lower half of his body down. Instead the big man raised and eyebrow and stated, "While I appreciate the sentiment I am not the one that is in need of a bath."

Embarrassed at how jumpy she was, Cassie's face flushed as she attempted to apologize, "I'm sorry Teal'c… It's just that…"

"There is no need to apologize Cassandra Fraiser." Teal'c replied.

"Apologize for what?" Jack asked as he stepped around Teal'c in the bathroom, "I found what I was looking for… they're a bit old but they should do the job well enough." Noticing the puddle on the ground Jack added, "Teal'c how many times do I have to tell you if you're gonna take a shower use a towel to dry off."

Raising his eyebrow and turning his head to face Jack, Teal'c shot him a very intimidating glare that would have caused a lesser man to soil himself.

Holding his hands up defensively Jack said, "Just joking big man." With his face taking a more serous expression Jack said, "T, if you could place our guest in the tub…"

Thinking that she was going to be in the way Cassie began to get up and move to the side.

Turning his attention to the auburn haired girl Jack asked, "Where are you going?"

Looking between Jack, Teal'c whom was setting the unknown girls body in the tub Cassie said, "Uhm well… I was going to let you guy's… That is…"

Jack stared at Cassie for a moment to consider if he was asking too much from the girl before he shook his head and softly said, "Cassie… I know I'm asking a lot of you right now but this girl has obviously been through a lot, not to mention that that collar around her neck has been force-feeding her some kind of drugs… I know this is awkward for you but I really think that it would be best if you were the one to clean her up. I will be right here to make sure that nothing happens to you incase she wakes up still influenced by the drugs. Think about it for a second…. If you woke up and were being cleaned up by some guy what would you do, granted you'll still be a stranger but if she wakes up to you her reaction should be a lot less violent. "

Cassie stayed silent for a minute while she stared down at the redhead. After making up her mind she turned back to Jack and said, "Okay… I'll do it."

Jack sighed in obvious relief and said, "Great, I'm glad, cause it's a lot less awkward for me this way after all you are both girls."

Deciding that it would just be better to tune out the sarcastic man Cassie started to undress the girl in the tub. Scrunching up her nose she first removed the filthy boxers, holding them up using two fingers of her right hand Cassie asked, "What do you want me to do with these?"

"Sorry bout that." Jack stated while he fished for something under the sink. "Ah… There we go." he replied while holding out a clean trash bag, "Just set them in there for the police."

Cassie nodded and complied. Turning her attention back to the girl in the tub she started to pull the ratty worn looking tank top but paused once she reached the girls neck. "Uhmm… Jack what about the collar?"

"Oh.. Here… Actually let me do that… Unfortunately I don't have anything handy that would cut through the shackles on her ankles without hurting her." Jack said as he stepped forward.

Kneeling down next to the tub Jack kept his eyes trained on the girls neck as he was feeling really awkward around the mostly naked teen. Taking the collar with one hand he gently spun it around the girls neck looking for the weakest spot to make his cut.

After a minute or so of searching he found what looked to be a good place and gently tugged the collar away from the girls neck while attempting to keep the area where he knew the drugs were being injected away from the skin. Not having much success, Jack realized that he needed a third hand. Looking over his shoulder he called out, "hey Cassie come back here for a sec. I need you to hold the collar away from the neck while I cut it off."

Cassie returned to the side of the tub and knelt down taking the collar in her hand she asked, "Right here?"

"Yeah that's good… Just let me get the cutters in place then you can remove your hand."

Cassie nodded nervously as the cutters despite looking rather old seemed like they were still rather sharp.

Sliding the cutters into place Jack said, "Alright you can let go now…."

Cassie released the collar just as Jack exclaimed, "Perfect… Glad I kept these here I was going to bring them home with me last time I was up here." Standing up with the collar in hand Jack walked over to the toilet and after setting the lid down took a seat while he examined the collar more closely.

Looking between Jack and the girl in the tub Cassie asked, "What about the things on her ankles?"

Jack sighed and replied, "I don't have anything up here that could take them off without hurting her."

"So do you want me to continue washing her up?"

"Yeah… this thing is a real piece of work… Look at this T… it has all kind of doohickeys inside of the liner." Jack replied absentmindedly as he continued to examine the collar in a morbid fascination.

Cassie nodded to herself as she turned the water back on and began to adjust the temperature to where it was just about room temperature. Once she was satisfied with the water temperature Cassie began to carefully wash the girl down, starting with the girls hair and working her way down.

After a few minutes of gentle scrubbing Cassie soon began to loose herself into a routine and began to gently hum to herself in a soothing manner.

12334623121

Meanwhile

Teal'c had left O'Neill and Cassie in the bathroom as he felt a bit uncomfortable in there being a spectator. So instead he made himself busy by adding a few logs to the fire and then moving to the sliding door to peer outside to keep an eye out for any other guests.

Realizing that the inside light was working against him he went over to the wall and flipped the light switch off leaving the only source of illumination in the room coming from the fireplace.

Deciding that it might look rather conspicuous if he just stood in the doorway for an extended period of time Teal'c drew the curtains around the door to where they were mostly closed. Satisfied that no one would be able to see him from the outside Teal'c then went into the kitchen to retrieve a chair to sit on.

His preparations complete Teal'c to a seat and stared into the raging storm outside in search of any interlopers that might have less than honorable intentions.

--

123254356

Back in the bathroom

2345

Jack had just managed to remove the majority of the liner off of the collar. Sure he knew that he should not be tampering with it but he was nervous and fidgeting with the odd doodad always seemed to help him keep his cool. Speaking of doodads the more of the collar he uncovered the more uncomfortable he got as he realized that whomever had made this collar had a lot of money, meaning that there was no telling how many other girls were out there under this guys control.

Brushing his hand against where one of the nearly empty ampoules Jack let out a yelp of surprise and jerked his hand back. Standing up in a hurry he failed to realize that he had just flushed the toilet.

1243245

The sound of the toilet flushing startled Cassie, causing her to whip around. This time instead of turning with her whole body though, like she had when she had involuntarily drenched Teal'c, the hand with the showerhead managed to stay pointed in the tub. Glaring at Jack who had the decency to look apologetic for startling her again Cassie whined, "Don't do that."

"Sorry bout that Cassie, pricked my finger…" Jack trailed off as his eyes caught sight of the occupant of the tub.

Cassie turned slowly following the elder mans gaze and eeped in surprise. Somehow when her back had been turned the redheaded girl in the tub had been replaced with a black haired boy. This became especially evident as her eye's traveled down his frame noticing the lack of female anatomy and addition of male endowments, causing her face to turn a rather interesting shade of red.

She was so distracted she almost failed to notice that the former lukewarm stream of water had turned scalding hot, that is until the finely sculpted stomach and lower area began to gain a reddish tint. Realizing what was happening and what she had been staring at, Cassie quickly shut off the water.

Jack had not been inactive while Cassie had been distracted, no he had managed to approach the tub and was now standing directly over Cassie, his eyes trained on the occupant of the tub. As Cassie turned off the water he realized that she was staring, then he realized what she was staring at, moving his right arm Jack moved his hand in front of Cassie's eyes and said, "Uhmm… Cassie…. Why don't you go in the other room and get Teal'c for me."

Still in shock over having the young girl be replaced by a cute guy Cassie let some other portion of her brain take control and asked, "I… Err… Who's gonna finish cleaning him up?" A moment of silence passed before Cassie realized what she had said and immediately tried to recover by amending, "Uh… That is…" Cassie trailed off before she added, "Okay…. I'll go get Teal'c." "You can move your hand now."

Jack shook his head and replied, "Uhm why don't I help you to the door… Here take my other hand."

Cassie nodded and allowed Jack to lead her out of the bathroom. Once she was in the hall Jack uncovered her eyes, letting her see once again. Now free to see once again Cassie attempted to subtly turn around to gain one last peek at the person in the tub. It was not that she was a pervert or anything, its just that the shock of finding the girl replaced by a young guy who was admittedly very attractive had Cassie in a daze and she just had to look to make sure that her eyes were not playing tricks on her.

12343451;

Jack shook his head as he watched Cassie walk down the hallway and thought, "_Well… I'm screwed… The doc is probably going to do something really nasty with needles and things for allowing her daughter to lose her innocence." _ Turning around he leaned up against the doorway and locked his gaze on the young man in the tub wondering, "_What the hell just happened? I know that was a girl… Hell I took enough pictures to prove it… Not old enough to be going senile… Cassie saw it too so I can't be imagining it… What the hell!! People do not just up and change genders like that."_

Of course no matter what Jack though internally he always took things in stride, as the techno babble was best left to Carter or Daniel, for all he knew there was some new Goa'uld device that switched a person's gender, he supposed that was not that far fetched. He had witnessed some pretty weird stuff while at the SGC. "_Hell…" he_ thought, "_For all I know she… he… whoever… could have been wearing one of those image inducer thingys and it got knocked off by Cassie when she was cleaning her up."_

1223421

Cassie walked into the main room in a daze, face still flushed over what she had seen as her mind was still picturing the young man in the tub.

124235

Teal'c sat at his position slightly to the side of the sliding doors with his eyes carefully searching for any sign of hostile intruders that might be after the young girl that they had found. Hearing a slight shuffle of feet coming from the hallway he allowed himself to be distracted temporarily to see whom was entering the room. Noticing that it was young Cassandra Fraiser he was about to say something until he realized that she looked rather preoccupied with her own thoughts and decided to leave her alone for the time being as he felt that she just needed some time alone to deal with the days happenings.

Cassie, having still been in shock over having the young girl be replaced by a admittedly handsome young man when Jack had asked her to ask Teal'c to join him in the bathroom for a moment, temporarily forgot what she was supposed to be doing. So upon reaching the main room of the cabin she could not remember what Jack had asked of her. Her eye's scanned the darkened room for a moment trying to figure out what Jack had asked of her until they settled across the pile of blankets on the floor.

"_Of course!"_ She thought, "_Jack must want me to wash these blankets right quick because they got all dirty when we wrapped the girl up earlier… Yeah that's it."_ So now that she had figured out what she was supposedly to be doing Cassie knelt down and gathered the large bundle in her arms before moving towards the kitchen where the washer and dryer were located behind a set of folding doors.

1234231534

Jack waited a few moments for Teal'c to arrive before he figured that the former first prime must have gone outside to do a perimeter check or something. Thinking that he could wait to show the Jaffa later Jack re-entered the bathroom to check on his latest guest.

Jack looked at the half washed young man in the tub and sighed, he was not looking forward to this task but knew that there was no way in hell that he would live to enjoy retirement if he allowed Cassie to continue. Turning the water back on Jack waited until it warmed up enough before he started where Cassie had left off.

124234531

Cassie temporarily deposited the dirty blankets on top of the dryer to wait until she was ready to put them in the washer. Opening the washer she mentally sighed, _"Jack must have washed a load earlier and forgotten to set them in the dryer._" After shooting a annoyed look in the direction of the bathroom she began to empty out the washer while placing its contents into the dryer. Once that was done she began to rummage around the cabinets in the closet for some fabric softener sheets. Not finding any Cassie shook her head and just settled on setting the dryer's control and turning it on.

Now that that was out of the way Cassie returned her attention to the washer, after setting the controls and adding the detergent, she leaned forward and waited while the basin filled and mixed the soap and water together. After a few minutes of waiting she then added in the soiled blankets. After closing the lid, Cassie let out a tired sigh and mentally wondered, "_I wonder where Teal'c went off to? The lights were off in the main room… Teal'c…"_ Looking at the washer Cassie's face flushed in embarrassment as she remembered what Jack had actually asked her to do before rationing, _"Well it's not like the blankets didn't need to be washed anyways… I just jumped the gun a little… Took some initiative." _

"I'll just say I didn't see him…" Cassie muttered to herself as she tried to decide whether to go back to the bathroom and tell Jack that she couldn't find Teal'c or to return to the main room and wait until the large man reappeared.

123r45234

A few minutes ago

23242

Jack glanced at his watch and sighed, wondering where Teal'c was for what felt like the hundredth time. He was just about finished with washing up the unconscious boy and was actually looking forward to getting his wounds bandaged and the lad clothed. He had hoped though that Teal'c would have entered so he could take over while Jack excused himself under the guise of looking for something for the boy to wear.

Jack just felt that he was well beyond his comfort zone as he for one did not like seeing kids in the condition that this boy was in, though with his experienced eye he had been able to determine that at least whomever had been holding the boy had at least been feeding him as there were no signs of being under fed. Another thing that Jack had found odd though was that none of the cuts or gashes seemed very old. Actually they all looked to have happened at about the same time. Then of course there was fact that as Jack was finding small fragments of glass in nearly all the open wounds that adorned the boys arms and legs. The one thing that did not add up though were that the boy did have older injuries, but most of those were a few years old at the very least, with the exception of the nasty looking chaff marks.

Shaking his head at the sheer amount of mysteries surrounding the kid Jack attempted to mentally put together a time frame on the kids injuries. _"Okay, some of the scars are pretty old looking to the point where they are barely visible. Others though look to be from within the past year or so, but nothing within the past few months, well except for the obvious but those look about a day or so old. The chaffing around his neck isn't that bad but its obvious that he's been wearing the collar for some time, especially if I look at his ankles where the __worst__ of the chaffing __was__."_

Hearing the dryer start in the back ground Jack muttered, "Cassie must be washing those blankets… Good girl… I guess I'll have to apologize for leaving that load in there though."

A few minutes later Jack was almost done washing down the young man and was currently rinsing him off. Reaching behind himself Jack fumbled around with his free arm in search for a towel. Not finding one he turned his head, thus missing the young man transform into the young girl once again. Turning his head back around Jack just stared for a minute before he growled out in annoyance, "Ohh… for cry' in out loud… That's it… As soon as I get you taken care of I'm calling this in… It's just too weird… Even for my standards."

Having the decency to advert his gaze away from the young naked girl in the tub Jack wondered what he should do next. He knew that he had to finish wrapping up the kids wounds but there was the matter of dressing the kid first as oddly enough there were no wounds on the main portion of the body from what he could see. Making up his mind Jack rose up, walked to the door and leaned his head out into the hallway to call out, "Cassie… Could you come back to the bathroom please."

12345345132

Still in the kitchen contemplating her next move, Cassie was visibly relieved when the decision was taken out of her hands by Jack.

Of course the moment that she took her first step she began to wonder, "_Does Jack know I didn't tell Teal'c? Is that why he's calling me over there, so he can yell at me for it? No that's not like Jack… Or is it?"_ Shaking her head at her own paranoia Cassie resumed her trek as she figured if worse comes to worse she could just tell him that she was just feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment and apologize for her forgetfulness.

Of course during the short trek down the hall her blush managed to return as she realized that she was going to be in the bathroom with a naked boy, for the second time that day.

23454235

Hearing the shuffling of feet and creek of the door that signified Cassie's return Jack stood up from his position next to the tub where he had been bandaging the girl up while he waited for Cassie to comeback in. Muttering out, "It's about time I must of asked her to come back in here five minutes ago. Jack turned the rest of the way and added, "It's okay… he changed into a girl again… Somehow…"

Sighing in relief that Jack didn't seem mad at her, she asked, "You called?"

Jack nodded and replied, "Yeah, I was going to ask you if you had any spare clothes to fit her… Just for the night, I'll have to dig through what I have laying around here to see if I got any old sweats or something."

Cassie hesitated before replying, "I think I brought an extra sleep shirt and shorts… but the shorts might not fit that well… they'll probably be a bit big."

Jack shrugged, "It doesn't matter… As a guy he's around your height so if she changes again it won't be that uncomfortable for him… her…"

Cassie managed to look amused over the way Jack was fumbling about the person's gender.

Noticing Cassie's look of amusement Jack added out of frustration, "You know who I mean… Anyway go get those clothes would ya… I'm just about finished bandaging her up."

Turning back to the contents of the tub Jack grabbed another roll of gauze and began to finish with what he had been doing.

Taking the hint Cassie walked to the guest room and sought out her bags. Opening them both up she dumped hem on the bed as she was unsure as to which bag she had put her extra bed clothes. Though technically they were so much extra as they were something less provocative than what she usually went to sleep in. That's not to say that she had intentionally brought stuff that was provocative to a cabin for a week to stay with two men she considered uncles. No it was merely a matter of the fact that the material just felt so good against her skin.

Actually Cassie didn't even really think that her choice of bed clothes were all that provocative, to her they just felt really good next to her skin. Besides that, her choice of bedtime apparel was a constant source of amusement for her mother as she was constantly telling her that the long flowered satin gowns reminded her of frumpy old women.

Spotting her nightgown Cassie reached across the bed and gathered it into her arms. Feeling the stress of the past few hours Cassie plopped down on the bed, idly pawing through her clothes for her spare, as she held her nightgown tight against her body. "_Mom's right… I'm not ready… I can't even…."_

12123534

Feeling mentally drained Jack sighed as he finished wrapping up the last wound on his unnamed guest. Looking down at his watch he again wondered where Cassie was, he had sent her to get something for the girl to wear almost five minutes ago. Not wanting the girl to get a cold, he decided to just bring the girl to cassie, at least that way if cassie was having problems with finding something for the girl to wear there would at least be a warm bed to store her in until the situation was resolved.

Wrapping the young girl up in a large towel, Jack gathered her into his arms. Groaning slightly as his knees protested, he stood up and left the bathroom heading for the spare bedroom that Cassie had claimed the day before. Stopping at the entrance, Jack paused, he didn't want to barge in unannounced. Angling his body and cargo sideways he leaned his head through the open door and glanced around. Seeing Cassie sitting there on the bed clutching one of her nightgowns made Jack hesitate for a moment.

He knew that it had been a stressful night so far and realized that he had been asking a lot from the sixteen-year-old girl. He tried to rationale that he hadn't asked her to do anything that he himself wouldn't have done but knew that that was like comparing apples and oranges. Still though he realized he needed to do something. Making up his mind he softly kicked the doorframe with his shoe to get the young girls attention.

12453523

Jerking out of her thoughts, Cassie shot a look at the door and sighed in disappointment. For a brief moment she had been hoping that her mother had arrived. "_It's just Jack… I don't know why I was hoping that mom was here… Yes I do… I miss her... It's just that I get so fed up being treated like some little kid."_

Noticing that Jack seemed to be waiting for something she called out, "You don't have to stand out there… It's your Cabin."

Jack frowned; he knew something was eating at Cassie. Taking a few steps into the room he gently set his cargo on the end of the bed. Walking over to the closet he pulled out an afghan and draped it over the girl until Cassie could get her dressed.

Then moving next to Cassie he asked, "Sooo… What's up…"

Cassie stared at the older man, debating whether or not she could talk to him. She knew that despite the way he acted he was pretty smart but on the other hand she also did not think that he could really understand where she was coming from.

Noticing the girls hesitation Jack inwardly rolled his eyes, settling down next to her he said, "You know kiddo… Cassie…" He amended as he noticed his slip. "Cassie, you know you can talk to me right?"

Cassie nodded slightly.

"Sooo…" he drawled out, "Rough night huh."

Cassie blinked and almost nodded in agreement before she realized, "_If I tell him then Jack will think I can't handle this… then he'll tell mom… then I'll ever get her to stop treating me like a child…" _So with that in mind she answered Jack dismissively, "I've had better but so far it's nothing I can't handle."

Jack was nearly at a loss as what to say. He knew why Janet had asked him to take Cassie up to his Cabin, and despite what cassie thought it was not so much of a needing space matter as much as it was that Janet felt that Cassie needed time with a father figure. Originally the plan had called for all the male members of SG-1 but Daniel had managed to get stuck back at the base doing some emergency translating on something SG-7 had run across.

Realizing that Jack had made no effort to leave and was still sitting next to her as if he was expecting something more Cassie asked, "Is there something else or can I get her..." Pointing to the red-haired bundle at the foot of the bed, "Dressed now?"

Jack shook his head and stood up awkwardly while stating, "No… I guess that's it then… Just give me a holler when you're done…"

123455647

Cassie felt a momentary pang of regret as she watched the older man walk out of the room, deep down she knew that he was only trying to help her but at the same time she felt that any help he gave her would lead to herself still being treated like a child.

12343632151

Jack left the room quietly, despite public opinion on the matter he was not that dense as to not realize when his advice was not wanted. Stepping out of the hallway he closed Cassie's door and reached into his pocket for his cell phone to call the SGC while he walked to the main room to talk to Teal'c.

1223451451

Teal'c watched the raging storm outside, while doing his best to keep an eye out for intruders. This task was made more difficult due to the fact that every few moments lightning would light up the skies and play havoc with his night vision.

Hearing a noise coming from down the hall Teal'c momentarily diverted his attention. Focusing on the sounds Teal'c realized that it was O'Neill and that he was talking to somebody. Though from the sounds of it, he was pretty sure that it was not Cassandra Fraiser with whom he was conversing.

As the sounds got closer though Teal'c realized that O'Neill was on the phone and turned his attention back to watching the storm rage, figuring that if it was important he would be told later.

12423412531

A few moments earlier

Jack dialed the switchboard number to the mountain and waited for someone to pick up. Normally he would just call the direct line that would send him to the phone in the Generals office but in this case he was not sure on whether or not General Hammond would be there or not. It all depended on whether or not there was a SG team off world and due to report in or not.

Hearing someone pick up the line Jack asked, "This is Colonel O'Neill, put me through to General Hammond."

Hearing a positive reply from the soldier on duty Jack stopped and leaned up against the wall in the hall to relax for a moment while he considered just what he was going to tell the general.

Jack tensed as he heard the other line pick up and hoped that the General would listen to him before he decided to order him to have his head examined. Hearing the General address him Jack nearly sighed in relief, he had so not wanted to deal with Reynolds on this one as technically while Jack was gone he was supposed to fill in on the second command position.

Clearing his throat he decided that the direct approach was going to be his best bet to stay away from those annoying head shrinkers and said, "General… You'll never guess what I caught out at my cabin today."

Hearing the General sigh Jack almost smirked, he was being direct but sometimes it was just hard to not be a wise ass about it. Knowing that getting the general annoyed with him was a bad idea though he quickly added, "Actually… Cassie caught her… Well not so much caught her as wound up being collapsed upon…"

Hearing the General bark out and tell him to get to the point Jack became solemn and stated, "General, I think we have a problem out here. I'm not sure what exactly is going on but Cassie stumbled upon what looked to be a girl in chains…"

Jack frowned when the General interrupted him by telling him that as much as what he would like to spend SG resources in the matter a lost abused girl was something that the local police should handle.

"I know sir but that's not all… She was wearing a collar that was feeding her drugs… And there's something else…" Jack replied.

"….."

Noting that he had General Hammond's full attention now Jack added, "I'm not sure that you're going to believe me on this one but that's why I want to take her in… George… I think she might be an alien or something…"

Hearing the General ask him why he thought so Jack replied, "Sir, I don't know how she does it and right now I can't ask her because she's been out of it since we found her but apparently she can change genders… somehow…"

Jack winced, holding the phone away from his ear as General Hammond went on a rant about him wasting his time with an ill conceived joke.

After a moment or two when Jack thought that the General had calmed down enough he started up again with, "General… I'm not joking… I know its hard to believe but I saw her change into a boy first hand while Cassie was washing her up. I wouldn't believe me either but sir… When have I ever lied to you… Okay bad example… When have I ever lied to you while I was in complete control of myself."

After hearing the General respond, Jack continued, "Sir All I'm asking is to take her to the mountain and have the doc take a look at her… If after that you still think that we should hand her over to the feds then I'll deliver her myself."

Jack smiled as the General conceded, allowing Jack to take the girl back to the mountain. Hearing the general state that he had to work things out with the local police though made Jack frown again as while Bill was the sheriff and a friend of his he did not to strain their friendship by stepping on his toes.

After a few more minutes of working out some of the finer details Jack flipped his phone closed and entered the main room. Taking only a moment to let his eye's adjust to the lack of light, he made his way over to the couch and plopped down. Having noticed that Teal'c was sitting by the window Jack lifted his head up and said, "Hey T… I don't suppose you ever heard of any aliens that switch genders… Maybe some long forgotten Goa'uld or something?"

Turning his attention away from the storm outside Teal'c considered his friends question for a moment before he lifted an eyebrow in curiosity and replied, "Indeed I have not… I was unaware that such a feat was possible."

"Oh… it's possible alright… Turns out that our little guest here can change into a guy complete with all the bits and pieces…"

Teal'c frowned wondering if O'Neill was getting enough sleep as he had never heard of such a thing before. After a moment of awkward silence he offered, "Perhaps she only appeared to have changed… there are devices that are capable of generating illusions…"

"I know buddy but if she was wearing something like those pins from a few years ago… I sure as hell didn't see it and considering that she didn't have anything on at the time, I'm not about to go looking for it either."

Hearing a shuffling coming from down the hall Jack sat back up and stated, "Speaking of our guest…"

Cassie who had just exited the hall and entered the main room stopped and asked, "What about her?"

"You all set with getting her dressed?" Jack asked tiredly.

Cassie rolled her eyes and stated, "No I left her naked on the bed while I came in here to see if you had anything to make s'mores."

Rolling his eyes at the sarcasm while he stood up Jack replied, "I'll go get her… and I keep the S'more supplies in the kitchen… third cabinet on the left from the sink."

Wincing as he stretched out his knees he added, "Don't eat too much though we might be making a early start in the morning… depends on if and when the roads get cleared."

Stopping in mid step on her trek to the kitchen Cassie paused, slightly shocked and dismayed at the news and asked, "We're leaving?"

"Yeah, right after I work a few things out with the sheriff we're heading out and catching a hop back to Peterson." Making a few gestures towards Cassie's room he added, "There's just a few too many unanswered questions about our guest that need answered for me to leave her with the locals…" Turning to Teal'c he asked, "You want first watch?"

Teal'c shrugged in his seat, he didn't mind taking first watch.

Not seeing the shrug due to the darkness of the room Jack took the Jaffa's silence as confirmation and left to retrieve the girl from Cassie's room so he'd be able to keep an eye on her just in case she woke up.

12534151351351

I know I had promised to get this chapter out earlier but well I got preoccupied. Any way I hope you enjoyed this chapter and as long as all goes well I'll have something else out soon.

Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Stargate SG-1 I am merely using them for my own amusement.

The Rebirth of the Undomesticated Equine Chapter 2

12345654321

12321

Jack snapped his eyes open while his arms reached out to grab a hold of the perceived threat that had woken him from his slumber. Normally he would not be so on edge at his own cabin but with the happenings of the day and the added responsibility of two children had him on high alert, as well as a bit twitchy.

As his eyes focused on the cause for his awakening, he sighed, It was just Teal'c, meaning that it was time for him to take over the watch while Teal'c went off to Kel-No-Reem. Mumbling derogatory comments at the recliner that he had taken refuge on just a few hours ago Jack stood up, stretching out his protesting joints in the process. Once he was somewhat stretched out he turned to Teal'c and asked, "All quiet out there…"

"Indeed… The storm passed about an hour ago." Teal'c replied.

"No sign of more visitors looking for our guest then." Jack stated as he made his way over to the sliding door to peer out into the darkness.

"I was not able to detect any… Though that does not mean that they did not come as this view is limited in its effectiveness." Replied Teal'c as he glanced over Jacks shoulder.

Jack shrugged, truthfully the whole idea of a watch while at his cabin was a bit unnerving to him as it was a place that he could always go to relax and forget his problems. However, the watch served two purposes, on one part it kept an eye out for anyone looking for their unconscious guest, while at the same time ensuring that there was someone to watch over her, as it was necessary to do so until the nature of the drugs found in the collar were identified. Shooting the girl in question a quick glance Jack blinked. In addition to the redheaded bundle that he had placed in the center of the hide a bed there was a second bundle, this one though was positioned precariously on the edge of the pull out bed, nearly hanging off of the edge.

Turning to Teal'c Jack asked, "When did Cassie come back in here?"

"She has not yet left this room." Teal'c replied before conjecturing, "I believe that she was reluctant to return to her own room after silently reviewing the circumstances that had transpired earlier in the evening."

Shrugging Jack replied, "Don't blame her one bit… Though I thought that she handled the entire situation rather well… All things considered." Turning his attention back to his back yard Jack asked, "You wanna take a quick look around before you go off to give Junior a rest?"

Teal'c nodded and silently proceeded to make his way over to the front door while stuffing Jacks side arm into the back of his pants.

After watching Teal'c leave out of the front door Jack took his place in the seat the large Jaffa had used while on watch. Leaning back he tried to take his mind off of his unknown guest. But the more he tried to resist thinking about her the more the unanswered questions started to grate on his nerves.

After adjusting his position so that he could alternate glances between the redheaded bundle and the static scenery outside Jack tried to relax, he even went so far as to pull out his ever handy yo yo. After a few frustrated tries that left the string knotted Jack leaned forward and ran his free hand through his hair. Muttering softly he asked the unconscious girl, "So what's your story anyway? That whole gender thing has got to be confusing." Jack waited a minute before sighing as his guest continued to remain unconscious, he knew better than to expect an answer but he had hoped for one none the less. He just hoped that if the girl was an alien that her gender changing ability was not the end result of some sort of goa'uld nano technology that was contagious, as while he would not mind having access to the women's locker room, he could deal without having his gender change to reap the benefits.

Crossing his fingers Jack leaned forward to peer outside, looking for anything out of the ordinary, trying to put disturbing thoughts of an alien virus that switched peoples genders at random out of his mind.

1234567654321

Cassie woke up to the smell of freshly grilled bacon teasing her senses, forgetting her precarious position on the edge of the hide a bed she stretched out her arms and legs, immediately sending herself off balance, causing her to fall off of the side, hitting her head in the process.

Picking herself off of the floor from her sprawled position Cassie stood up, wincing as she touched the side of her head. Muttering under her breath about stupid couches she failed to register Teal'c's presence as she brushed by him on the way to the bathroom.

1234565321

Knowing that all women, be it Jaffa or Tau'ri, were basically the same in the morning, Teal'c chose the better part of valor and maintained his silence. Continuing on his way he entered the kitchen to see what O'Neill was up to.

1234567654321

Jack had decided to get an early start on breakfast, with the hopes of being able to get his mystery guest into the safe confines of Cheyenne Mountain by that afternoon at the latest. He realized though that despite his early preparations their movement would depend on whether or not the roads had been cleared and if the flooding had receded enough to make it to the main road.

Taking note of a silent Jaffa's approach, Jack called out, "T, you want sausage, bacon or both? There's scrambled eggs, yogurt, fruit loops, toast, French toast and sweet rolls." Noting Teal'c's raised eyebrow at the vast offerings Jack added, "Didn't have much of a choice in the matter… the food would probably have spoiled before I get another chance to get out here again."

Shrugging Teal'c sat down at the table and started to dish himself out a very large breakfast.

Glancing at his watch Jack was torn between fixing himself up a plate, after noticing the sheer amount of food Teal'c had claimed for himself, and calling over to the sheriff's office to see if whether the roads had been cleared. Deciding that business came before pleasure Jack glanced over to Teal'c and stated, "I'll be right back… Just going to step outside for a sec and give the sheriff a call to check on the status of the roads." Pausing just before he exited the kitchen he added, "And T… try to leave some for the rest of us." Hastening his step Jack missed the Jaffa's glare of indignation.

1234453521

After cleaning herself up, Cassie made her way to the kitchen stopping momentarily to check on the redheaded guest. Noting that the unidentified girl was showing no signs of waking she sighed, she was worried and admittedly a little creeped out given that the only time the girl had been conscious Cassie had been the only one there. Perhaps it was the wild pitiful look in the girls eyes that were bothering her or maybe it was the fact that she could have sworn that the girl had meowed at her.

Pushing her thoughts about the strange girl aside, Cassi left the room and entered the kitchen. Noticing both the vast array of food as well as a certain Jaffa feasting. Grabbing herself a sweet roll and yogurt Cassie went to Join Teal'c at the table. Noticing his questionable raised brow at her modest breakfast she shrugged, truthfully she wasn't feeling all that hungry. After giving off a murmured, "Good morning Teal'c." Cassie glanced around and noticed something else, or rather the lacking presence of someone. Pushing her yogurt to the side she asked, "Where's Jack?"

"O'Neill is currently preoccupied with inquiring as to the status of the roads." Teal'c informed her before going back to his breakfast.

"I hope we'll be able to get out of here." Cassie said while suppressing a shiver.

Teal'c was about to inquiry on if Cassie needed a jacket when they heard the sounds of gunfire coming from outside.

12343321

A few Minutes earlier

Jack stepped outside, it's not that he needed the privacy, it was more of a matter of the fact that he enjoyed the brisk country air in the morning. Flipping open his cell he frowned the signal strength was down to one bar. Growling, "Can you hear me now my ass." in aggravation he started walking around his front yard, in the attempt to find a spot with a more powerful signal.

After a few minutes of wandering around his front yard Jack sighed, he knew that the phone worked inside. As he was heading back to the cabin though he paused, hearing the soft crunch of shoes on gravel. Wary of any possible threat he spun around, his fingers twitching slightly as if they were seeking out the familiar grip of his side arm that was currently tucked into the back of his pants under his shirt.

Seeing two men wearing black suits heading his way caused his more cynical nature to lurch forward. Forcing down the sudden urge to grab his gun and shoot the two suits Jack altered his path and made his way towards them, plastering on a warm yokel smile in an attempt to make himself appear less of a threat.

Jack closely watched their approach, taking note of their body movements, looking for any perceivable threat. They seemed normal enough, as far as suits were concerned, both sported short dark hair, both standing somewhere around five ten, while neither looked overly muscular their body movements betrayed the non threatening appearance they were attempting to pull off. Stopping at the end of his driveway he decided to let them come to him. Once they were about fifty feet from him he offered them a warm wave accompanied with a bright, "Mornin… Can I help you two with something."

Noticing the very brief glance the two suits shared caused Jack to give in further into his suspicions, after all there was no reason for two suits to be out at his place this early in the morning. Unless the sheriff had sent them, if that were the case though Jack figured that his friend would have at the very least told him that he'd be getting guests last night.

Leaning his back on the rear of his truck Jack took a deceptively harmless stance while he waited for the two men to answer him.

"Morning sir… I'm special agent Black and this…" Motioning to the other man, "Is special agent Smith… We are with the FBI, out of the Minneapolis field office."

Jack frowned momentarily before re-plastering his most harmless smile in place and stated, "You're a way's away from Minneapolis."

Agent Black started talking, or at least the man that Jack assumed to be Agent Black as he had not really been paying all to much attention to what they had been saying.. that is until the long winded agent got to the point and said, "… Following up leads on a mentally challenged girl that had seemly been held captive running around in the area."

Jack cocked an eyebrow while he internally debated on what to tell these two agents. On one hand despite his suspicions they could be telling the truth but since his friend who happened to be the local sheriff had not warned him about these agents suggested that they might not be as legit as they seem. There was also the possibility that these two men were among the girls captors that Jack had to consider, the fact that they were at his house in the early morning without warning suggested that but as it was, that was not enough to really add any weight to the scales. Of course in the end, due to the girls ability to change genders that suggested that there was something alien about her, put her outside of the FBI's jurisdiction and into the SGC's.

Scratching his chin he drawled out, "Well… I haven't seen anyone out here. Then again I just got out here yesterday…" Deciding to attempt to gather a bit more information about the mysterious girl Jack added, "Just how mentally challenged is this girl?"

The two agents glanced at each other communicating silently, Jack tensed, he had a sinking feeling in his gut.

The two agents turned their attention back to the colonel and smiled sinisterly saying, "Technically she's not, she just believes herself to be a cat. but then again you must already know that… Colonel O'Neill."

Jack swore to his self as he ducked behind his truck, drawing out his side arm at the same time. Hearing two loud bangs that confirmed that, yes he was now being shot at. He muttered, "Great just the thing I needed first thing in the morning… A gunfight with Cassie inside… The Doc is definitely going to break out the big needles next time… If there is a next time…" Shaking his head Jack began to get focused on the current task at hand. Namely making it out of his current predicament alive.

Pulling upon his vast amount of combat experience he listened for the two so called FBI agents. Hearing the crunching of gravel, he grinned and thought, "_Rookies!"_ Keeping his truck between himself and the agents Jack popped up and fired two quick shots before ducking back down and shuffling to a different position, one that would be closer to the front door.

12345654321

Upon hearing the gunshots Teal'c sprung into action. He needed to help O'Neill but first he had to ensure that Cassie and their unconscious guest were safe. Grabbing Cassie's arm he began to guide her to the bathroom.

Cassie for her part followed Teal'c's lead willingly, that is until they passed through the cabins main room. Remembering the girl that had stumbled upon her the previous day Cassie struggled in vain in an attempt to get out of Teal'c grasp and cried out, "Teal'c we can't leave her in here… Something could happen to her…"

Keeping a firm grasp on Cassie's arm Teal'c stated, "It is not my intention to leave her in this room… However, first I must do my best to ensure your safety, Cassandra Frazier."

Just as Teal'c was about to continue leading Cassie into the bathroom, where she would be safer within the confines of the old bathtub, the window on the front door shattered from a stray bullet. Noticing now that Cassie was struggling even more to escape his grasp to tend to their unconscious guest, Teal'c had no other option. He knew he needed to get Cassie to safety and keep her safe but at the same time he needed to help his friend. So right before he released his hold on Cassie's arm he stated, "Casandra, It would be wise to seek refuge inside the confines of the tub in the bathroom… I will let you go so that I may tend to our guest."

Cassie nodded, truthfully she was half scared out of her mind and had no idea on why she was insisting that Teal'c grab the other girl before she was safe. Now that she was free from the Jaffa's grasp though she ducked down and rushed into the bathroom, diving in the tub, narrowly avoiding slamming her head into the water facet in the process.

Moments later she was followed by Teal'c who was now a redheaded bundle. After maneuvering herself in the tub for a moment she said, "Teal'c put her down right next to me."

123456784321

Jack cursed to himself, finding himself pinned down after making an attempt to get to the front door of the cabin. Now once again using his truck as a shield from the incoming fire he winced, noting that a stray bullet had taken out one of his tires.

Knowing that Teal'c's first priority was going to be taking care of the two girls inside the cabin Jack crouched down and prepared himself to move.

"Colonel O'Neill... Just give us the girl and you can walk away from this..." One of the suits called causing Jack to shake his head wondering how much of an idiot they thought he was before he responded with, "Yeah... About that... I don't think so."

"Come on Colonel... She's not worth it... Just hand her over we can all walk away from this."

"Why so you can continue to pump drugs into her." Jack called as he rose up and fired two more quick shots, narrowly missing one of the agents. Adding, "You Seem to want her back awfully bad... What is she to you guys? A member of the NID dating service, you keep e'm drugged up so they don't know what total bastards you are?"

Agents Black and Smith shared a look once the troublesome Colonel retreated back to the safety of his not so mobile shield. Things were not going as easily as they had imagined and both belatedly realized that perhaps they should have waited for backup.

However at that moment agent Black was inspired and held out a small black device with a LCD screen. With a brief nod of understanding agent Smith palmed the small black device and began to creep backwards in an effort to get to the tree line in order to circle around the cabin and enter the back way.

Agent Black grinned slightly. In a few minutes they would have the girl regardless of CO'Neill's attempts to keep them at bay, all he had to do was keep the Colonel busy.

Jack knew something was up when he started to hear just one gun casting out suppressive fire to keep him pinned down but knew that there was nothing he could do about it. "_Besides," _thought, "_They might know who I am but that's about all, it doesn't seem like they know that Teal'c is inside with Cassie." _over the NID's lack of proper intelligence Jack decided to play along and allowed himself to be continuously pinned down.

123456643231

Teal'c frowned, from his position just outside the bathroom door he was able to see out of a partially shuttered window into the front yard where the gun fight between O'Neill and the two men was taking place. He had been about to smash out the window and give his friend some cover fire when he noticed one of the men fall back into the tree line. Teal'c internally debated his next move, he could still help O'Neill now that one of them men disappeared into the tree line, or he could wait and see while keeping an eye on his friend so as to give him support should he need it.

1234543211

Thinking that Colonel O'Neill had been too silent in the last few minutes Agent Black called out, "Still with me Colonel?" not hearing a response he frowned not knowing what the seasoned veteran was up to. "Give it up Colonel... I know you're still out there... Just hand over the girl and we can all go our separate ways."

Jack not feeling up to a verbal response let his trusty 9mm answer for him.

Forced to resort to diving to the ground, due to a series of near misses, Agent Black exposed a portion of his body from behind the tree he had taken refuge behind in the beginning of the fight. Annoyed and somewhat frustrated he fired two quick shots, aiming underneath the truck that the Colonel was using as a shield and smirked when he heard a strangled curse.

Jack tried to muffle his shout of pain, having just caught a ricocheted bullet in his thigh. Moving his free hand to it he probed the wound, it wasn't very deep and didn't appear to have ruptured any major blood vessels. With a grimace though he realized that he wasn't going to be running any marathons anytime soon.

Once again fully protected by the tree, Agent Black called out to the Colonel, "Give it up O'Neill... this entire area is crawling with NID agents and its just a matter of time before they arrive to back me up. You can't possibly win..."

1234565321

Teal'c was watching the event's playing out between O'Neill and the NID agent like a hawk, now that O"Neill was hit it changed things drastically and Teal'c knew that he could no longer afford to wait and see. Lining up the shotgun he prepared to open fire on the agent the moment he moved from behind the tree. It was then that Teal'c heard the back door to the cabin slide open. Cursing silently in goa'uld Teal'c moved away from the window and positioned himself so that whomever had entered the cabin would not see him until it was too late.

Teal'c began to count footsteps as the unknown figure crept through the main room. Teal'c realized that this unknown figure was very likely to be the missing agent that had disappeared into the tree line a few minutes ago. Hearing the agent quietly call out, "here kitty kitty" confused the Jaffa but at the same time confirmed his belief that this was indeed the missing NID agent. With his senses telling him that the agent was seconds away from turning the corner and stumbling upon his position Teal'c made his move and took the shotgun by the barrel, swinging it like a club, he caught the agent right in the face and sent him sprawling across the room he had just left.

Teal'c scrambled over knowing that the noise could possibly alert the man's partner outside that something was amiss. Checking the mans vitals Teal'c was somewhat relieved that the man was not going to be getting up anytime soon, most likely due to the fact that the mans face was looking a bit shattered. Hurrying back to the window Teal'c was just in time to see the other agent leave his shelter. Raising up the shot gun Teal'c took aim and just as the man stepped out from behind the tree he fired,

1234453521

Having gone a few minutes without a response from the Colonel, Agent Black was about to start a fresh round of taunting when he heard a loud crash from inside. Thinking that it was all over he began, "I'm stepping out now Colonel... It's over, my partner has the girl... throw out your weapon and we'll let you live."

Jack grinned while holding back a wince, apparently this guy subscribed to the 'I'm Gonna count my chickens before they hatch' club. He knew it was going to be a gamble but unless something went horribly wrong the loud crash that he had just heard was in fact Teal'c neutralizing the other agent. Hoping that his gut was right Jack decided to play along and gently tossed his gun out from behind his truck where it landed about five feet away from him. Then with a grimace of pain he slowly stood up and moved into position right behind the front driver side fender of his truck so that it would only take one quick dive to retrieve his weapon.

Seeing the Colonel's weapon fly out Agent Black stepped out keeping his gun trained on the Colonel's position, as he had no intent on honoring his promise of letting him live. After all, Colonel Jack O'Neill had been a thorn in the NID's side for some time now and he knew that he would be unofficially greatly rewarded for taking out the troublesome officer. Just as he was about to fire though a loud shot rang out causing him to fall back.

Jack made his move and dived for his gun, reaching it he flicked the safety off and lined up his shot, firing three rounds into the now still NID agent. Gingerly rising to his feet Jack held back a wince as well as several colorful metaphors.

With his gun trained on the most likely dead agent Jack began his careful approach. Once there he squatted down keeping his wounded leg extended and check for a pulse. Not finding one he then turned his attention to the mans pockets taking anything that might be of importance, the man's pistol, including one clip of 9mm rounds, a wallet containing the mans id marking him as a NID agent, and a small radio similar to the ones sg teams use to stay in contact with each other when in the field.

His foraging complete Jack briefly debated on what to do with the body, he could hide it but then again if there were more agents in the area then there was not going to be enough time to make a escape if he chose to dispose of the body. Deciding to just leave it where it lay Jack shakily rose to his feet once more and slowly made his way to the cabin. Taking out his cell phone Jack frowned, the screen was smashed, meaning that unless the house phone's were up and working help would be a long time coming. Looking up he noticed that Teal'c had the door open and was about to help him inside.

Waving off the Jaffa as he approached Jack asked, "T.. do me a favor... Check the house phone would'ya."

Teal'c disappeared from the doorway momentarily only to return almost immediately frowning.

Noticing the former first primes expression, Jack confirmed, "Let me guess... Deader than a doornail?" Arriving at the doorway Jack ordered, "This is what we are going to do, first tell Cassie to get herself and our guest dressed and to pack a small bag full of necessities... a change of warm clothes... hygiene products... and a few blankets... everything else will have to stay here for the time being. After you do that I want you to go into the Hall closet and there should be a few canteens with some old hiking equipment, fill the canteens with water and pack up the packs with what we'll need for a twenty mile hike through the mountains. I think that there's a small cooler in there too, you might want to pack up what's left of breakfast and put that in there along with the left over fruit. There should also be a few boxes of non-perishable emergency food in the cabinet up above the fridge."

Painstakingly stepping across the threshold of the Cabin Jack continued, "I'll take care of my stuff once I do something about this wound." Noticing that Teal'c had not yet moved he asked, "There something wrong Teal'c?"

Teal'c nodded while holding out a small black device with a LCD screen, "This device was among the possessions of the other agent. I am unsure as to what its purpose is."

Taking it from Teal'c's outstretched hand Jack examined the device closely, and while he may not be up to a certain blond haired astrophysicist's level of expertise he could identify a tracking device when he saw one. Frowning down at the device he stated, "It's a tracking device Teal'c... It seems that our little guest had something on her allowing the NID to find her."

Teal'c remained silent for a moment before he inquired, "Would it not be safe to assume that unless the device is implanted within her person that the collar would be the item giving off the signal.

Nodding Jack replied, "It's in my room, I'll take care of it... No Scratch that... If the NID have anymore of these and we smash up the Collar then they are going to know somethings up... No..." Jack paused a moment while glancing down at his injured leg, "What we need is to buy ourselves some time... there's a river not too far away, we'll follow along that until it twists to the southwest. Then we'll place the collar in a cooler and let it float down stream while we go off to the southeast to Duluth."

Getting the Jaffa's nod in approval Jack then asked, "Where's Cassie and our guest?"

"They are in the bathroom taking refuge inside the bathtub until the all clear is given... I thought it wise for them to remain out of harms way as long as possible."

Slapping the larger man on the back Jack replied, "Good thinking big guy, I'll go tell Cassie then."

1234453521

Cassie was scared. Sure she had heard all about some of Sg1 's exploits, but to actually be in the thick of things along with them was something different. Sure her initial arrival onto earth was exciting and extremely terrifying, but there is a big difference between not knowing that there was a bomb in your chest and being in the middle of a gun fight, curled up in a bathtub with an unconscious girl.

Having not yet received an all clear from Teal'c, she had grown increasingly worried that something bad had happened as it had been a few minutes since she had heard any gun shots.

Worried for her life she crawled out of the tub and looked around for a weapon. It took her a moment of searching before she settled on using that toilet plunger as a club. It was not the best weapon but at the same time it was comforting to have something in her hands.

Pressing her ear to the door Cassie's chest tightened, she could hear footsteps coming down the hall. Moving to the side of the door she braced herself and waited. She almost let out an audible sigh of relief when the footsteps continued past her into Jack's bedroom.

The panic quickly returned though once she heard the footsteps reenter the hall. Figuring that whomever it was was looking for her and the unconscious girl that was still in the tub she prepared herself. After all she was not going to let some weirdo's take the girl away and do whatever they were doing to her again.

1234453521

Jack opened the bathroom door and immediately sensed that there was something was a miss. He jerked backwards in an unsuccessful attempt to not be hit by whatever was bearing down on him. Unfortunately his attacker clumsily compensated for the move and wound up striking him in the chest. With an, "Uhmph." Jack stumbled backwards only to come to a stop when he hit the hallway wall. The sudden unexpected movement caused his injured leg to protest painfully at being misused.

Taking a moment to regain control over himself, that included muttering several things that would make a sailor blush, Jack then fired out, "For cry'in out loud Cassie what are you trying to do give me a heart attack... I'm an old man you know..."

Cassie paled the moment the plunger started to come down as she recognized the person entering the room, she attempted to pull away but was already overly committed in her swing.

After watching Jack stumble backwards and crash into the hallway wall Cassie rushed forward, worried that she had hurt him, especially after noticing the quickly spreading dark stain on his thigh. Panicking over the possible injuries combined with the total amount of stress from the happenings of the past twelve or so hours caused a dam to break, letting her emotions loose in a torrent of tears and confusion. "Oh my god!! you're bleeding... I'm sooo sorry... I thought you were..."

Jack 's face softened as he took in the now crying girl before him, acting quickly he just embraced the panicked girl in an attempt to get her to calm down, keeping his voice soft he soothed, "It's okay Cassie, I'm alright its just a flesh wound... Just a nick really... hurt myself more shaving."

1234543211

A few minutes later

Jack had finally managed to calm Cassie down enough so that she was able to follow his directions and go pack up a few things for herself and their guest. In a way he was sort of glad that she had a momentary breakdown, as it was a lot more convenient to deal with it now then at some point later where sudden noise could tip off any potential trackers to their positions.

Glancing in towards the door he figured that he had a few minutes before she came back in to change the redhead still laying in the tub into something a little more durable for a twenty mile hike through rocky terrain.

So with just himself and their guest in the bathroom Jack removed his pants to dress his wound. While he was no doctor, life experience had given him more than enough knowledge to tie in a few stitches and disinfect the wound. Once that was done he gently wrapped it up in a bandage and put on another pair of pants, it wasn't perfect but he was fairly convinced that it would hold up for the time being.

Turning his attention to the other object he had brought into the bathroom he grimaced, he really did not want to mess with the girls collar but if they were going to slip past the NID then they needed every break they could find. That meant that instead of bringing the entire collar back to the SGC he was only going to be bringing the drugs as they were the most important part of the contraption.

Gently he tugged at one of the ampules, carefully avoiding the area he assumed to be the injection device. He smiled grimly as he felt the ampule slowly slide away from the device.

Now with one of the ampules free Jack looked around for something to place it in, after a moment his eyes came across a stray toothbrush travel case. Looking around some more in the bathroom cabinet he came across a package of cotton swabs, after stuffing a few swabs in the toothbrush travel case he then gently inserted the first ampule noting that it was a snug fit.

Moments later the second ampule had joined the first and Jack was ready to go check with Teal'c and Cassie to see how things were going as they really needed to get a move on if they were going to have a chance to get past the NID.

12345654321

George Hammond sat at his desk thumping his fingers against his desk impatiently waiting for his XO and Flagship team Leader to report in. His impatience was nothing new to him as he felt a combination of worry and anxiety whenever there was a team off world that was late in phoning home. He knew Jack and especially Teal'c could handle themselves but at the same time was worried none the less.

Stretching out his hand he willed himself to stop thumping his fingers and chose instead to analyze the little amount of information that Jack had given him. He was uncertain of what to make of the information, If what Jack had said was true than there could be a potential foothold situation that he needed to alert the president about. Then again the girl could just be a rouge alien that had somehow been stranded on earth, though he wasn't going to hold his breath for that one considering the SGC's luck at meeting friendly aliens.

He supposed that the girl could be some sort of Gou'ald experiment, meaning that they might have another Gou'ald like Seth on their hands that had thus far managed to go unnoticed through history. Though what purpose a sex changing human could serve he had no idea. However given how Jack had described the girls attire he would not be surprised.

Shifting his gaze over to that all-to-silent phone on his desk George sighed, picked up the phone and barked into it, "Walter... I want Daniel Jackson, Major Carter and Doctor Frasier to assemble in the briefing room as soon as they arrive... and get General Allison over at Peterson(1) on the Horn."

12345654321

Jack double checked the items he was carrying before turning to Teal'c and Cassie to ask, "You guy's got everything? It's a long way's till the next rest stop so if you need to take care of something do it now."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at Jack's rather lame attempt at a joke and replied, "I am ready when you are O'Neill."

Cassie whom had been distracted by her own feelings of nervousness and fear gulped loudly and exclaimed, "I'll be right back."

Jack snickered silently as he watched the girl run off towards the bathroom, hearing the door close he turned his attention back to Teal'c and asked, "You sure you're up to carrying our guest there Teal'c?" Referring to the redhead being held bridal style in the large Jaffa's arms.

Teal'c glanced down at the small girl as if deep in thought for a minute before replying, "I shall endure, O'Neill... Though I do have a question..."

Curious about what his large friend wanted to ask Jack replied, "Well Don't keep me in suspense there buddy... out with it."

Torn between his curiosity and Jaffa pride Teal'c relented, "How is it possible for one so small to weigh so much... I have carried many Jaffa away from the battlefield while in service to the false god Apophis and this small girl easily out weighs the majority of those of whom I have carried."

Jack shrugged appearing to think about the matter, he had noticed that the slip of a girl was extremely heavy for someone her size the night before. After a few moments he speculated, "I dunno... maybe it's a weird alien thingy."

Teal'c stared at the man for a moment before he replied, "I have not heard of such a race before."

"Have you met every alien species out there?"

"Indeed I have not." Teal'c replied with a frown.

"Well there you go then... until further notice it's some weird alien weight thing." Jack finished with a smug look of triumph.

A moment of silence filled the air as Teal'c was just content in humoring his friend.

Just a few seconds later though that silence was broken by the flush of the toilet followed by the creaking of the old cabins floorboards.

1234543211

Cassie arrived on site and immediately noticed the silence that had fallen between the two friends worried that there was something wrong she asked, "Is there something wrong? Did those NID guy's catch up to us."

Jack shook his head negatively and replied, "No but we are going to need to hurry if we don't want them right on our six." that said he slid the door open and shot out, "Let's move out, we got a long walk in front of us campers. T. I got point."

As he led the small procession away from his cabin Jack was momentarily distracted by his decision to hike to Duluth rather than use the truck despite it's two flat tires. But he knew better, if they were to take the truck to the area where the roads were blocked they could potentially run into more NID agents as the two from earlier had approached from that direction. And taking his already shot up truck into another gunfight was something that he wasn't willing to risk, especially with two children with him.

He also regretted the fact that he couldn't send Teal'c out on advance recon, but the unconscious girls weight combined with his injured thigh would be a little too much for him to handle alone, especially considering the terrain that they were going to have to cover.

Unconsciously Jack stepped up the pace a little as he realized that due to the fact that it had taken nearly fifteen minutes to get everything set and leave the cabin that the odds were that the NID was already closing in on their position.

1234567654321

Teal'c stoically trudged along keeping his focus on their surroundings. In the front he could hear O'Neill occasionally stumble as he limped along. In front of him he could also hear Cassie's ragged breathing, most likely caused by the pace O'Neill was setting. In the forest as he walked he could hear the birds sing as well as the occasional rustle of of wild animal in the bushes along the path.

He was so focused on the events surrounding himself in his attempt to prevent themselves from stumbling into a NID search party that he almost missed the bundle in his arms subtly shift.

At first he put it off on his imagination but then after a moment the shifting resumed. Pausing in mid stride he called out softly, "O'Neill... I believe that this girl is coming around..."

Jack came to a stop at Teal'c announcement and cursed, now that the girl was coming around that changed things. For one, though he had been morbidly curious about what drugs the girl had been given, he did not relish finding out with who knows how many NID agents on their tail. The other problem was what to do now. If the girl was going to wake up soon then they needed to find a good hiding spot for her to come around at, as the girl if coherent would most likely panic at being carried around by some stranger.

Thinking quickly while pulling upon his rather extensive knowledge of the area Jack turned and urged, "This way... there's some caves off in this direction that we can use for shelter... We'll wait for the girl to wake up there. Teal'c once we get there I'm going to need you to ditch the collar downstream like we talked about.

1234565321

End of chapter.

Sorry it took so long, but a number of problems occurred to set back the release of this chapter. Including, reformatting my computer, having knee surgery, being distracted by random family crisis. Anyway I thank you for reading and will try to get another chapter out soon.

Also I realize that Ranma hasn't really been active in the fic yet and there are numerous questions as to when in the time line this is and how things happened... well the next chapter will answer a lot of those questions.

ps

Feel free to drop a review

1 Peterson Air force Base.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer, I do not own Ranma or Stargate SG1 or any other series I might choose to depict in this story.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank James Axelrad for his continuing help with this story as well as those of you that have left either a review or reply.

The rebirth of the Undomesticated Equine

Chapter 3

12344567

Sheila MacMasters gently set down the phone not wanting to make a sound out of fear that she would let her displeasure at her most recent orders be known. She was supposed to be the one that made the important decisions concerning the project not some uptight senator with a stick up his ass.

Leaning back with her eyes closed her small frame barely contained a shiver of distaste as she considered her orders. Her orders were to terminate all traces of the project immediately. This simple order not only effectively shut her down but was also in effect a death warrant for the test subject, someone that had been the cause of her most recent bouts of insomnia.

When she had started the project it had she had fully believed in its mission to find and develop alternative weapons to fight against the goa'uld. At first it had meant taking those undesirables that society would not miss and attempting to alter them to make them stronger and faster than the standard human. This had been met with mediocre results as genetic engineering on earth was in its infancy, and even the small bits of smuggled technology and information the NID would hand over were not enough to speed up the progress to be feasible enough for immediate application.

It seemed though as if a higher power had been silently watching them though, as another project whose sole responsibility was to search the earth for left over scraps of Gou'ald technology stumbled across a village frozen in time. The village turned out to be home to a society of matriarchal warrior women. The NID team on hand had been literally stunned at the physical capabilities of the tribe as a whole as it was not only the women that seemed to have these advanced abilities but some of the men as well.

Upon of viewing a video confirming the tribe members prowess Sheila had immediately requested that the project leader on site act as an intermediary for her own project and enter talks to recruit some of the women warriors for her own project.

In the middle of these talks, during the tribes annual tournament to determine the village champion a stranger had arrived, a little redheaded slip of a girl whom was accompanied by what seemed to be at the time her pet panda. According to the agent at the scene, the girls panda had started to eat the feast set aside for the winner, that in turn spurned a disagreement to occur with the newly crowned champion and newcomer. In the end they both agreed to fight for the rights to both the food and panda.

What had happened next was simply stunning. The new girl not only defeated the newly crowned local champion but did it almost effortlessly. Sheila had been notified almost immediately and upon learning about the girl had the other project leader utilize any resources he could to acquire the girl.

That led to the NID team in the area branching out to not only track where the girl was going but also to where she had come from. It was upon catching up to the guide that had escorted the girl to the village that the NID agents had been informed about the girls supposed curse. Sheila had been very skeptical at first but then the guide had offered proof by means of tossing a rabbit into a random pool with a NID agent recording the event with a camera.

Sheila had watched waiting for a rabbit to exit the pool only to be shocked at what came out.

She had still been skeptical but at the same time the guide had informed the agent recording the event that the panda that had accompanied the girl was the boy cursed girl's father. It was with that little amount of information that Sheila was starting to lean towards giving the whole idea of a magical curse credit as domesticating a panda was something that would be difficult at best and according to sources on the initial scene the panda was not just domesticated but moved with human movements as well.

Magical curses aside the NID team managed to find the pair of travelers, with the panda restored to its human form. At that point though the team had limited knowledge of the pair as they only had the names that they went by as well as their nationality. Having not heard back from their contacts in Japan the team had been forced to act as word had reached them from the Amazon village that the former champion was now seeking out the redhead to kill her as per her tribal customs.

Due to the traveling duo's witnessed and assumed physical levels Sheila had given the go ahead for what ever means necessary except physical force to get the younger of the duo to agree to go with them. In the end, the sum of five thousand American dollars was all it took to get the child's father to release the boy cursed girl into their care with an additional promise to return the boy to a specific address in Tokyo once he was finished with the program.

While the boy whose name turned out to be Ranma was in transit from China, Sheila had been busy attempting to work out a mental profile on him to best utilize him for the program. The mental profile was the most important part of the entire project when starting off with an already physically gifted specimen. Before finding Ranma the first step in the program had been to raise the specimen's physical attributes, but with that no longer necessary they could move onto stage two which was mentally breaking the individual down in preparation for stage three. That step being a modified version of the mind stamp that the SGC had run across in which SG1 had went missing for a few weeks.

Sheila had speculated that while the mind stamps did not hold with the members of SG1 due to minute physiological differences the process could be successful if the specimens where mentally prepared to accept the changes in their memories. So theoretically if they broke someone down enough then the new memories would become a welcome escape and thus reducing the chances that the persons subconscious would want to retrieve the old memories.

While Ranma was not going to be the first test subject in the improved mind stamping procedure, he was going to be the first one programmed to indiscriminately combat the goa'uld. That meant that Sheila had to be careful in breaking him down as his physical traits and martial abilities could not suffer.

Sheila reminisced back to the first time she had begun to have doubts in what she was doing. She had known Ranma for two weeks, having constant contact with him by being his liaison for things like food, clothing, transportation to the training hall (which in reality was more of a laboratory where Ranma could work out and test his limits while being analyzed by technicians) and general miscellaneous things. All during that time she had been working to further along her physiological profile on him to learn the best means to implement the project.

It had been rather easy to get the young man to trust her, getting him to talk about his past was a different story though as it seemed that Ranma did not like to dwell on things and tended to live in the moment.

Finally though Ranma had shared something important enough for her to start the process of breaking him down. The event behind the initial breakthrough was something he had called the Neko-ken and upon learning the details Sheila had to wonder just what type of parents this child had as to her the whole idea of being wrapped up in fish products and tossed into a pit of starving cats was just plain wrong.

It had been the Neko-ken had opened the doors to the whole project with Ranma's total support, though he had no idea what the projects goal of, simply stating that she along with her team of specialists were going to help him rid himself of his greatest weakness had gotten him to comply willingly.

The problem was that while mind stamping Ranma could have possibly ridden him of his fear of cats, there would always be the underlying threat of that personality coming out in cases of severe stress. Plus at the time, especially after witnessing it in person, it was simply too valuable of an ability to waste.

Sheila had considered overwriting Ranma's mind and leaving the Neko-ken intact with the mind stamp but that would not have worked as Ranma's mind needed to be broken down as a whole to accept the new persona, one totally controlled by the NID.

In the end, under the advice of her staff, they figured that the best way to proceed was to see if Ranma could emulate the cat fist, meaning that he had to mimic the entire style, chi claws and all. Then once he started doing that they would then start him on immersion therapy so he could build up a resistance to cats.

Sheila shook her head remembering just how well the idea worked, not only had Ranma been able to emulate the entire skill set of the Neko-ken, but he had managed to become even more powerful in the process, something that had the higher ups drooling with anticipation as to when he would be put through the procedure.

Sheila knew that somewhere in that time period is when she lost her objectivity and started seeing Ranma as more of a younger brother than a test subject in a project. It was hard not to, just watching him would make her swell with pride at his progress, seeing his smug look of triumph for every part of the technique that he mastered always brought a smile to her face.

Sadly she had been forced to step away from him, at first she had agreed, but then just watching him from afar and seeing what her second in command put him through had been heart wrenching.

It had been decided that with all of Ranma's success that it would be near impossible to break his mind down to the point where mind stamping him was feasible. So in order to give him a push in the right direction he had been put into an isolation room when sleeping under the guise of that until the treatment was over there was too much of a risk in harming innocents if he were to remain as he had.

That had been only part of the plan concocted by her second in command, the next step had been for Ranma to be weaned off of her presence, meaning that as days went by she would spend less and less time with him. That in turn was cultivated into what the project called for, a means to break Ranma down. It had just been a matter of faking her death and making it seem to Ranma that he had been the one responsible for it.

It had worked, almost too well. After that event Ranma had been willing to do anything he was asked because he had been too wrought with guilt to say otherwise.

Almost immediately her second in command started him on a regimen of hallucinogenic drugs while imparting subliminal messages, information about the Goa'uld and other related knowledge, into his subconscious mind. That in turn lead to him agreeing to be chained and shackled like an animal with a collar around his neck that pumped in both the hallucinogens as well as a potent sedative to put him back under when they would finish testing the Neko-ken aspect of his mind.

Sheila sighed again remembering how difficult it had been to watch from afar, as more often than not she had found her allegiance to the NID dwindling and her hope for Ranma to find some means of escape from the nightmare that he had so willingly placed himself into. Of course she had been forced to keep her personal feelings hidden as her second in command Wanda Struthers would have reported her to the higher ups immediately.

Sheila grinned though as what happened next had given her hidden desires for Ranma fruition. Wanda had wanted to test the Neko mind's senses and thus had all doors leading to Sheila's office open once the Neko ken had been induced. Depending on the point of view the test had been rather successful but at the same time it had nearly broken her own heart.

Ranma had managed to free himself, herself at the time, and sought out the familiar scent. She had managed to find Sheila in her office and in the short time before security arrived Sheila had somehow been able to impart just how important that Ranma escape into the feline persona.

Of course Sheila realized that perhaps it had just been luck that Neko Ranma had decided to rip through the wall and escape into the Minnesota wilderness. Then again though she had seen the look on Neko Ranma's face and she could have sworn that she had seen her betrayal in those shiny blue orbs. Perhaps though that was her own guilt talking, maybe Neko Ranma did not have anything further than a simple mindset where the more complex emotions don't carry over.

Cradling her head between her hand Sheila sighed and pondered what her next move was going to be. On one hand she had just been given the order to terminate the project but being the project leader gave her a bit of leeway to seek out an appeal. One thing she knew though was that she wished she had never thought up the damnable project in the first place. Despite not wanting to appeal to keep the project alive, Sheila had no desire to see Ranma dead. That left little leeway in between.

Looking at the Clock she noted that according to the intelligence that the 'Good' senator shared with her, the remainder of SG1 along with Doctor Janet Frasier we due to arrive in the area within two hours. Glancing between her computer and the clock Sheila began to mentally calculate a plan of action, one that if carried through would most likely lead to her demise at the hands of her employers

1234567654321

some time later

Teal'c was moving at a medium paced jog carrying the cooler that contained the collar that was enabling the NID to keep tabs on him. He wished he could step up his pace but he was in a unfamiliar forest with who knows how many NID agents tracking his every move.

Coming upon a clearing he paused momentarily to get a glance at the sun to double check his directions as in heavily forested regions it was rather easy to get turned around as the sun would be hidden from sight by the large trees.

With one glance he was able to reaffirm his Jaffa pride as he had not managed to get turned around. Sucking in his breath he began moving once more, intent on moving at his best possible speed given the circumstances.

12345676565321

A few days ago, Nerima Japan

Genma sat sullenly in front of the Tendo's Koi pond, staring into the distance lost in thoughts involving his missing son. It was not something unusual given that it had been three months since he had sold Ranma's services to an American claiming to be in dire need of a Martial artist of a good caliber.

He had pushed aside the fleeting reluctance that always came with his decisions to temporarily pawn Ranma off to someone. After all, the man had insisted that it be only temporary and had thrown in five thousand dollars American to boot. The man, claiming to work for a Mr. Simmons, had even agreed to personally deliver Ranma to the Tendo Dojo at the end of thirty days.

Ranma never came, once more the phone number the man had given him had turned out to be no longer in service.

It was not that Genma was worried for Ranma, no, he knew Ranma could take care of himself. At first he had just figured that whatever task they had put upon Ranma had taken more time than initially thought but as weeks turned into two more months Genma was now beginning to suspect that he had been bamboozled. That was a new experience for the barrel chested martial artist as he was the one who usually did the scamming.

Hearing silent foot steps walking across the lawn Genma shifted his shoulders and cursed himself for not leaving China as soon as he had parted company with Ranma. Because if he had left then 'she' wouldn't be in Nerima with him and if she wasn't in Nerima then there would be no danger awaiting Ranma when he returned, or even Nodoka once she managed to track him down.

---- Flashback -----

Location – somewhere in China a few days after parting company with Ranma.

Genma looked back towards the town and growled angrily, having been forced to flee from the townspeople almost as soon as he had entered. It appeared that they were not used to seeing domesticated Panda's wandering around wearing nothing but an old worn traveling pack as he had removed his gi so as to not further damage it while in his cursed form.

Apparently that turned out to be a mistake as without clothes on he could not simply just douse himself in the open with hot water to revert his form back to human without making more of a scene , after all he had no desire to get the Chinese authorities on his case when he was in the country illegally to begin with.

Turning his attention back to his current surroundings he slung off his pack. IF the towns people weren't going to let a panda enter the town without making a fuss then he would have to try to enter the village as a human. Though he just hoped he would stay dry long enough to find some shelter otherwise he would probably get chased out again.

Leaving the pack where it lay Genma began to gather enough kindling to start a fire. Piling it as neatly as his paws would let him he turned his attention back to his pack and after some careful maneuvering so as to not tear the pack apart with his claws he was able to locate his flint.

Gripping it was a bit of a hassle but a flint was less of a overall hassle when living in the wild for prolonged periods as it was more reliable than matches and lighters.

Once he had a small fire going he slowly began to feed it bigger sticks, wincing every now and then as his furry paws were singed.

Hearing a twig snap behind him Genma tensed up a bit before turning around. He was beginning to get annoyed, his paws were singed, he was tired, hungry and to top it all off he had to relieve himself and he was not about to do so while he was a panda, that would just be gross.

1234567654321

a few minutes earlier.

Shampoo had lost track of the redheaded girl a few days ago when she seemly disappeared, but her patron goddesses were with her as it seemed she was able to stumble across the girls pet. Thinking that the girl would not leave her pet for long she had decided to tail it and watch for any signs of it meeting up with its damnable owner.

After two days of watching it though she began to get suspicious of the panda as it seemed rather well trained, too well trained as almost all of its movements mimicked human ones and that bothered her as it gave her cause to believe that she was missing something rather important.

Watching the animal start a fire caused some memories to stir, well a memory of an old tale warning them to stay clear of a local training ground. She had not put much faith in the warnings as while her great grandmother had some magical artifacts the idea that there was a massive cursed training ground just seemed too far fetched.

But as she watched the supposedly domesticated animal not only start the fire but feed it larger twigs and sticks until there was a decent blaze going went a long way to get her to consider the validity of the old warnings.

Deciding to get to the bottom of the situation Shampoo leap down from her perch and approached, intentionally breaking a twig with her foot to give the creature warning of her approach to further along her suspicions. That way she would see the beasts reaction before she closed in on it.

1234567654321

Upon turning around and noticing who had approached him Genma rolled his panda eyes, it was the girl that had given Ranma the kiss of death. Not wanting to risk a confrontation with the girl while he was in his newly acquired cursed form Genma reached over and fiddled carefully with his pack, looking for a pot to warm up some water in while keeping his eyes trained on the purple haired amazon.

Shampoo watched intently wondering what the Panda was doing. After watching it fumble around with opening a canteen and pouring its contents into the pot she realized that it must be reversing the curse.

Genma sighed as he watched the girl out of the corner of his eyes, it appeared she that she had figured out about the curse. Noticing that the water was starting to steam he grabbed a hold of the pot and was about to dump it over his head when he realized that he would be naked if he transformed. Wanting to protect his modesty he began to make motions at the girl to turn around.

Shampoo stood there for a moment with a confused expression on her face wondering what the beast was trying to tell her and why it did not just simply dump the water over its head to transform. After a minute or so of watching the animal make wild gestures she lost her patience and shouted in Chinese, "Change now!" while pointing at the pot of steaming water.

Genma's shoulders slumped, while he did not understand what the girl was saying he could make out from her angry expression and gestures that she wanted to watch him change. Sighing he stood to his full height and faced her completely, after if she wanted a show then who was he to argue.

Shampoo blinked her eyes as she witnessed the panda transform into a middle aged bald Japanese man. Her first impression that this man was a less than average male considering his appearance but then she noted that what she was mistaking for fat and flab was actually hardened muscle, that caused her to raise her guard as she figured that this must be the redheads sensei.

Noticing that the girl moved into a defensive stance caused Genma to roll his eye's in disbelief as he wondered what the girl was thinking. Not wanting to fight naked and thinking that it was his naked body putting the girl on edge he motioned to his clothes and asked, "You mind if I get dressed girl."

Shampoo saw the way the man casually dismissed her as a warrior with the roll of his eyes causing her pride to bristle. Angry at the dismissive way she was being treated Shampoo decided to disregard the mans unclothed state and rushed forward with her bombari in hand determined to teach the stupid male his place.

Genma dodged her initial attack without retaliating as he was more worried about protecting himself from the rather menacing looking bonbari that the lavender haired girl was trying to tag his little soldier with.

Shampoo grimaced in determination as the larger man moved around her strikes, briefly she considered that she had bitten off more than what she could chew but her Amazon pride pushed that aside causing her to redouble her efforts.

Genma rolled his eyes again in annoyance at having to deal with the irate girl. Normally this was something that he would push off onto Ranma to handle but since Ranma was not there he was forced into taking action. Dodging another close blow to his midsection Genma allowed himself to become distracted with formulating a plan to allow himself to get dressed. He knew that the girls skills were no match for his own as he had already witnessed Ranma dispatch the girl rather easily. He also knew that getting dressed would not take him more than a few scant seconds but the crazy Amazon girl was all over him so in order to buy himself time he would have to show the village girl the true might of anything goes. Dodging to the side away from a blow that almost tagged him Genma jerked upright pointed and shouted, "Look out behind you!"

Shampoo narrowed her eyes, her minute knowledge of Japanese not able to grasp what the large man was saying. However just because she did not understand then mans words didn't mean that she didn't understand his gestures. With a feral yell she rushed forward with everything she had, intent on showing the outsider male why it was not a wise thing to mock a Amazon warrior.

Caught off guard by the girls non-reaction to his feint Genma was forced to lash out with his foot, catching the girl square in her midriff, sending her flying backwards only to stop when she impacted a tree at the edge of the clearing.

More concerned about the current state of the girl than his own nudity Genma began to slowly approach the downed lavender haired girl, chastising himself for fighting with her on the way.

Shampoo came to slowly wondering what had happened. Last thing she remembered was rushing at the impudent male intent on showing him the might of three thousand years of Amazon history and skills. Opening her eyes she was able to make out a hazy figure standing over her. That's when the reality of the situation hit her. The outsider male had beaten her. Feeling the onset of depression at her loss tears began to streak down her face.

Genma was many things, thief, lazy, binge drinker, and at best a borderline bad parent but heartless he was not. So upon noticing that the girl had started to tear up he knelt down and tried to console her by gently brushing his hand across the girls cheek.

Shampoo initially ignored the contact in favor of just staring at the naked man that had dispatched her with such ease. Her village laws were clear on the issue and seeing that the man had made no effort to cover himself while she had been out of it, the guide must have informed him their laws. Realizing that she was trapped on the issue she began to stand up.

Genma warily took a step backwards thinking that the girl was going to try to attack him again, however that wariness soon turned into confusion as she began stripping off her clothes.

Shampoo took another step forward, noting to herself that the man seemed to be paralyzed by her beauty which cheered her up slightly as hopefully it would give her a means to keep him under control until he learned enough of her language to understand what his new place in life was.

Genma tried to advert his eyes from the naked girl before him but it had been so long since he had lain with his wife and while he may not have been the most loyal husband over the past ten years, but money for female companionship was a rare luxury at best.

Shampoo's tears stopped when she was hit with a realization, the man before her was now her husband by her laws and thus would have to obey her commands. That in turn meant that she would be able to order him to train her to help her kill the red headed outsider who had stolen her honor by defeating her. She grinned manically at that as it meant that she was one more step closer to the redheaded witch with her victory almost totally ensured, her honor would be restored and more importantly she would return back to her village with a powerful husband that would surely strengthen her family's line. At that thought though Shampoo was hit with a brief bout of worry as her newfound husband was far older than her and might not be able to perform his husbandly duties. One look at the mans naked form put those worries to rest though as it seemed that he was writhing in anticipation.

1234566

--------- End Flashback

Genma felt a brief bout of giddiness at the memory of what had happened next until his conflicting emotions reminded him of the mess he had dug for himself. Signing in resignation he rose to his feet and turned to address his new wife, only to be cut off before he could even get a word out.

"Shampoo want to train now."

Genma shuddered to himself, he did not want to train her. It was nothing personal, more of a matter of him not wanting to train any girl. So far he had managed to keep her out of his remaining hairs by simply assigning her simple tasks to do under the guise of training but as of late the young woman's patience was starting to run thin. Genma even suspected that if not for the fact that he had promised her that his redheaded student was going to arrive soon that he would be on his way back to that backwater Amazon village Turning his attention to his impatient wife, Genma replied, "Go get Akane and meet me in the dojo."

Not waiting for a reply Genma turned and started to make his way to the dojo thinking that while he might not want to train the girl it did have its benefits as he tended to use Soun's youngest as the girls training partner further slowing down his wife's training until Akane could catch up to her.

Thinking about Soun's youngest daughter caused him to shudder momentarily. He knew that the girl despised him for having such a young wife. Honestly though what did she expect him to do about it, it's not like it was ever his idea in the first place, he was simply just too manly for any one woman to resist.

1233456234613

Minnesota USA

Jack leaned up against the wall of the cave and allowed gravity to assist him into sitting down while running a mental check list. He remembered that the first thing he had done after making sure no wild animals had secured the cave was to help Teal'c get the unnamed girl comfortable. After that he had tasked Cassie with keeping an eye on her while he gave detailed directions to Teal'c. Then after Teal'c left Jack had set up a crude warning system on the perimeter, just to make sure that no one would get the drop on him.

With the more important tasks now out of the way he was finally able to turn his attention to his throbbing thigh. Feeling the sticky wetness he knew to be blood Jack was tempted to slam his head up against the side of the cave in frustration. He had managed to tear open his own stitches somewhere and had reopened the wound.

"Jack?? are you alright?" Cassie called out softly not wanting her voice to carry.

Jack, who had began to fumble around for the first aid supplies stopped and turned his head to the young girl. After a few moments of just staring at her attempting to find some witty retort to let her know everything was fine and coming up blank he simply replied, "Just peachy... Cassie."

Cassie sighed softly and temporarily shifted her gaze down to her lap to stare into the face of the mysterious redheaded girl. Using her hand to brush the girls bangs aside part of Cassie wished that she had never stumbled across the girl in the first place only to be immediately quashed down by the anger and fear of what the girl had been through. With her hand still running through the girls hair Cassie turned her attention back to Jack and asked, "Are we going to be alright?"

Jack broke his gaze away from Cassie to stare out into forest. At first he didn't say anything but after a minute of silence he started out slowly, "The local sheriff is a friend of mine and knows that we are up here, and I'm late with checking in with General Hammond... So with a little luck there are already search parties out there looking for us." Chuckling Jack added, "I wouldn't be surprised if your mom was out there right now tearing through the woods looking for you."

The mental picture of her short petite mother out there ripping trees out of the way with her bare hands caused Cassie to giggle slightly earning a mock glare from Jack. Cassie's expression sobered up at Jacks queue as she remembered that they were supposed to be hiding from the bad guy's out there and that it was not really a good time to make a lot of excess noise.

12345645321

Despite her short slender stature Janet Frasier was a strong woman with a kind smile and a glare that could give pause to even the toughest marine. At the moment though she wore neither expression as her face was contorted into a anxious frown over the current status of her daughter.

The last thing she expected when she had arrived at the SGC that morning was to find out that her daughter along with Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c had gone missing while out at the Colonel's Cabin. So imagine her surprise when she arrived at the mountain and told to go directly to the briefing room. That in itself was not that unusual as medical emergencies at the SGC did not run strictly on a six to five schedule. The fact that upon her entrance into the briefing room the non vacationing members of SG1 were there to meet her had been somewhat suspicious as she knew that Sam and Daniel were both busy attempting to catch up with the massive amount of backlogged projects that had piled up on them.

Then the briefing had started. If she had been at any other command Janet would have thought the entire idea of a sex changing alien as absurd, but she was a member of the SGC, where history and the rules of science were being rewritten on a daily basis. That combined with SG1's uncanny ability to attract trouble like moths to a flame managed to push any remaining skepticism aside. Her attitude quickly changed over from its scientific curiosity mode into very irate and concerned parent mode upon hearing that the Colonel was overdue to check in with the General.

As the meeting ended General Hammond had decided that due to the circumstances the remainder of SG1 and herself were to report to Peterson Air force base, where transport was waiting to take them to a small field Twenty miles from the Colonels Cabin. They were then supposed to wait there for the local Sheriff whom in turn was going to take them to the Colonels Cabin if the roads were clear. If not General Hammond was working on acquiring some rescue helicopters that were stationed out of Minneapolis.

The General had explained that while Colonel O'Neill suspected alien involvement to some degree that there was not enough substantial proof of an incursion to draw upon more of the SGC's resources to locate the missing trio. As it was Major Carter's orders were to evaluate the situation and then call in reinforcements if needed.

They had arrived at the small airport located in the out skirts of Duluth and from there had been given a lift into town by a member of the airports staff with directions to wait at a small cafe for the Sheriff. Not wanting to let an opportunity to search for answers pass them by both Sam and Daniel had went off to investigate the local area and question some of the towns people on if they knew of any odd happenings as of late.

That left Janet alone in the small diner with nothing to do other than to wait anxiously and dwell on the status of her missing daughter. She knew that both Jack and Teal'c could take care of themselves and were more than adequately capable of keeping Cassie safe, but that knowledge did little to ease her worries.

12345645321

Sheila stopped her car, having pulled over onto the side of the street across from a service station. Fingering a small USB drive in her right hand she hoped that she was doing the right thing. She had limited information on SGC personnel. Sure she would get mission reports that had been smuggled out of the mountain, but those were a rarity as she was only given the information that was semi relevant to her work. Also, mission reports did not really go into in depth the moral character of the SGC support staff. Sure she knew enough about SG1 to take an accurate guess at their moral makeup but their Support staff was another matter all together.

Taking out a small pair of binoculars she had purchased at a truck stop fifteen miles down the road she began to scan the windows of the Cafe, which was located a half of a block up and across the street from her current location. She was doing so because she was extremely wary of what she was about to do and wanted to pass along every file she had about Ranma to Doctor Frasier without SG1 present as she did not want to be apprehended, she still had a few things to do and once they were done then she would willingly turn herself in for her crimes.

She wasn't completely sure as to what she was looking for, sure she knew what Major Carter and Daniel Jackson looked like, but she only had the faintest of descriptions to go on as to what the Doctor looked like. In fact, the only thing she knew for certain was that the doctor had red hair.

It took a few minutes but her efforts were not in vain as she was fairly certain that the Woman in BDU's with red hair was the SGC's chief medical officer. Taking in a deep breath Sheila once again fingered the Small USB drive in her hand before sliding it into her jackets inside pocket. Stepping out of her care she began to form a plan in her mind, "_I don't have to actually meet the doctor to get this to her. All I have to do is enter the Cafe, sit down order a cup of coffee and then leave the drive with a small note and generous tip at the table with instructions to give the USB drive to the redhead in uniform."_

1233456234613

----- A few minutes earlier

"So she's there now?"

"........."

"I see."

"........"

"No... Not yet anyway."

"...."

"For now just watch if she makes a move towards the cafe then I am authorizing whatever means to ensure her silence."

"...."

"You have your orders... Follow them."

Wanda Struthers Calmly set the phone down in its cradle, her face showing no sign of sadness for giving the order that just effectively signed her formers colleges death warrant. After all Sheila, knew the cost of treason and if Wanda had to choose between her former long time friend and colleague and the projects security, well then Sheila was in for a shock, that was for sure.

Wanda had watched from a distance as Sheila's loyalty wavered, she had even attempted to protect her former friend from herself by separating her from the test subject. It seems though as unfortunate as it was, that Sheila was too weak to see the bigger picture. The goa'uld were too much of a threat to let on insignificant test subject get in the way of what was best for the world.

Pressing the button that activated the facilities intercom Wanda cleared her throat and said, "Attention all personnel, our orders have changed... All paper research is to be destroyed... All hard research is to be packed up and made ready for transportation to a back up facility. If there are any questions see your section heads... That is all."

With her announcement made Wanda began the task of rifling through her own office getting it ready for when the NID team arrived with transportation to move them to the next facility.

123456543221

Ranma was coming around slowly, the drugs previously pumped into his system having mostly worn off due to his sleep and quick metabolism. He, or rather She at the moment, could only remember bits and pieces of information from the time he had been within the thralls of the Neko ken.

He remembered talking to Wanda just before she pumped him full of a drug that would assist him into bringing the Neko ken out. He had been told that the drug was a necessity if he was going to master the cat within him, but as of late he had been having his doubts. The visions he had when exposed to the drug were horrific, containing demonic looking cats with glowing gold eyes committing one atrocity after another, a far cry from the now seemingly tame nightmare of being surrounded by a dark pit.. As of late though, the visions have been getting stranger involving snakes that would morph into gaudily dressed men with glowing eyes joining the cats in their vile spree's. What was seeding his doubts though was that the felines in his visions were no more terrifying than the newer additions. Actually, if he were to be honest with himself then he'd probably say these new factors were far more terrifying.

Laying there on the damp ground with her head supported by a warm pillow Ranma tried to concentrate what she could remember. -She remembered tree's, lots and lots of tree's. Scrunching her eye's up in concentration she ignored the voices in the distance and tried to refocus her mind as tree's was not really much of an answer.

After a few more minutes of laying there trying to think, Ranma gave up as it was an exorcise in futility as she could not ascertain any other pertinent information. Letting out a half moan half groan to let his displeasure at not being able to remember be known, Ranma decided that perhaps more information would come back to her if she went back to sleep for a while she turned onto her side and tried to position the pillows into a more comfortable position.

12345645321

A few minutes earlier

Cassie stared down at the redheaded girl, not sure as to how she was going to handle her if she got all hysterical when she woke up. She could tell from the slight movements that the girl was going to open her eyes any minute and see a total stranger looming over her. Turning her head to Jack she asked, "You sure that she's not going to flip out and go crazy when she opens her eyes?"

Jack shrugged in response before he added, "No clue... I just know that it's a better idea for you to be the first one she sees given how she was when she fell all over you."

Blushing at the memory of having the girl sandwiched between her breasts Cassie was hit with a sudden thought and whispered out, "Oh My God!!! Jack, is she a girl or a boy?"

Jack turned his head towards the two teens and replied, "How in the heck should I know? Despite the fact that this type of things seem to happen a lot when I'm around, I'm not the resident expert on the weird and technically impossible..." Pausing briefly he then added, "I'm sure if Danny boy, or Carter was here they'd be able to tell you... What difference does it make anyway?"

Cassie shrugged after a moment and replied with, "I don't know." in all honestly she did know but was not about to mention to Jack that she was embarrassed because the girl had technically gotten to almost third base with her before any boy did. "_Then again..."_ She thought, "_If she is a guy then it was with a guy. A guy I don't know got to almost third base with me... I'm such a slut... Was he even cute?" _

Belatedly though she realized that she never really got that good of a look at him the night before as she had been in partial shock from everything that had happened, not to mention having the girl transform into a boy.

Hearing a noise come from her lap she turned her attention back to the redheaded stranger, while motioning for Jack with one of her arms. Not wanting to spook the girl when she opened her eyes Cassie took her right hand and started running it through the girls hair. After all, when she was scared or in an off mood she usually got the same treatment from her mother.

Upon that realization Cassie felt a pang of guilt stabbing her in the stomach at her most recent attitudes concerning her mother. She knew she wasn't being fair with how she was treating her but at the same time was not happy being reminded of her not yet adult state.

Turning her attention back to the girl positioned on her lap Cassie realized something, the girl had started to breath a bit deeply. Hoping that meant that the girl was going back to sleep almost relieved her as she was not really sure on what she was going to say to the girl, so any delay in waking up would be greatly appreciated on her end. Noticing the breaths deepen Cassie blinked, there was something off about it, something about the way it sounded. Of course that's when she noticed that the girl on her lap was pushing slightly against her hand.

1234567654421

Ranma was nearing the point that she was fairly certain that she would have to open her eyes. She didn't want to but knew that she would have to as her mind was sending out alerts telling her that something was off with her surroundings. Leaning into the warm gentle hand petting her she purred again, it being a side effect of her drive to master the Neko ken. It was not that the more she mastered the more cat like she became... no... not really. It was more of a matter of when she was watching herself within the thralls of it that she had noted how it acted and set out to emulate every aspect of it. Of course with her that meant now the purring was a reflex that was extremely difficult to suppress.

The first thing she noticed that was out of place though was the ground, while she was used to waking up on the cold hard concrete of the facility that kept people safe from her savagery. That thought caused her to pale slightly, sure she could remember seeing a lot of trees while immersed in the cat fist but that had not meant that she had somehow managed to run away from the facility. The ground though was a very huge hint as it seemed not only rocky but uneven as well. Taken in a tentative sniff, something that she had been able to heighten somewhat thanks to the Neko-ken, she became very alarmed.

She was with people, a man and a woman and the man was bleeding. Most likely because of something she had done to him. She tried to sit up quickly but immediately felt two hands on her holding her down. Ranma tried to struggle more without hurting the person but was quickly realizing that her own body was not readily complying to her commands.

Ranma tried to speak out and express to the person about how she needed to get away from them before she lost control of herself again and hurt another innocent person but her own throat was far too dry and all that came out was a incomprehensible mutter.

1234543321

"Shhh.... Clam down.... everything going to be alright.... Your safe now...." Cassie soothed realizing that the girl on her lap was starting to panic. "Nobody's going to hurt you here... just lay still...." Shooting a look to Jack, Cassie silently pleaded for him to help her, this girl was extremely strong and it was taking everything she had to keep her still.

Jack sighed to himself, he had wanted to stay away from the girl until she had calmed down as he didn't want her to get all hysterical on him once she realized that there there was a strange man with her. Of course he also realized that though he had not counted it perhaps it was a good thing that Teal'c had not yet returned as many people found him to be rather intimidating. Struggling to his feet because of the newly acquired stiffness in it from sitting to long on it Jack announced softly, "Don't worry Cassie you're doing great."

1234567564321

Belatedly Ranma realized that Wanda must have upped or changed the drugs that kept him from hurting anyone. That caused a frown to mar her soft features as she knew from being told that if they had to keep upping all the drugs she would never be rid of the damnable Neko ken no matter how hard she tried. That caused her eyes to well up. It was frustrating, she had never wanted to hurt anybody but yet she had killed and shredded Sheila into an unrecognizable husk due to her inability to control herself. Now there were two other people with her, one of whom she probably had already maimed, and they didn't even realize how dangerous she was even when weakened from the drugs.

1233456234613

Feeling her pants getting damp, and the girl shuddering slightly Cassie realized that the girl was crying and tried to comfort her with, "Please calm down... you're safe here... nobody is going to hurt you... Everything is going to be fine now.... You're with friends..." Cassie plead as Jack plopped down on the ground with a grunt so he could help her restrain the girl if she continued to struggle.

"Kid... you need to relax... " Jack tried as he reached out for her shoulder to turn her onto her back.

1234567654321

Daniel stared out the shop window watching the woman get out of her car. It had been pure chance but as luck would have it he came across the window just as he was about to leave the store. Of course after seeing what she was doing he had to move to the side as the store window was rather large and had a clean line of sight into the woman's car.

As she exited the car Daniel was torn with which action to take after he realized that she was spying on Janet. He had no idea about her intentions nor what she wanted with the doctor. On one hand he could confront the woman now, but technically she hadn't done anything yet and would be able to deny anything. If he allowed it to play out though, it might place Janet at risk. Reaching into his pocket he brought out his cell and cursed, apparently there was no service up here. "Well there goes that idea." He muttered to himself.

Noticing that the woman was starting to cross the street, He made his way to the door, he would just have to stay close and out of site until an opportunity presented itself. Unfortunately that chance would never come as before Daniel was even out the door a black sedan sped down the road on an intercept course with the mysterious woman.

1233456234613

Sheila crossed the road not bothering to look both ways in the sleepy little town and had made it half way across when she heard the roar of an engine. Turning her head in fright she saw a black sedan making a bee line towards her. Picking up her pace she tried to run onto the side walk only to notice that the car sped up. Just as she was about to clear the road the car was upon her, in a last ditch attempt to protect her life Sheila tried to dive out of the way while letting out a frightened scream, only it wasn't enough as her lower body was hit full force and sent sprawling.

12345654321

Janet had heard the scream and had turned her head just in time to see a woman sent sprawling. Rising out of the booth her medical instincts took over, barking out an order to the waitress to call an ambulance while she went out the door to see if she could do anything for the unfortunate woman.

Just as she made her way outside she noticed that Daniel had beaten her to the body. Kneeling down she nodded to Daniel and motioned for him to stay back for a moment while she checked on the woman. Noting to herself that the woman seemed to be breathing she reached out with her hand to check the pulse and started to say, "Try not to move, an Ambulance is on it's way. I'm..."

12345654321

From her position on the ground Sheila knew she was going to die. Her body was numb and with every second that ticked by she felt herself getting colder and colder. Her thoughts briefly turned to her actions over the past few months but she pushed aside the feelings of self loathing and regrets that surged forward with the memories and focused on what she needed to do. Ranma's future well being was dependent on her doing the right thing for once. Hearing voices in the distance she tired to focus her mind to the outside world but everything seemed muted and far away.

Forcing open her eyes she tried to focus but the world around her was a blurry haze, her numb body felt sluggish and unresponsive. Through the haze though she was able to pull herself together for a brief moment of clarity, her eyes focused and from her twisted position only allowing her to see the lower body of the person kneeling down in front of her.

They were BDU's... Sheila swelled hope, the only person she had noticed in the vicinity that had been wearing BDU's was the SGC's chief medical officer. That meant that she had not yet failed Ranma. Sensing that the woman was reaching out for her Sheila mustered all her remaining strength and grabbed a hold of the womans wrist. Using all her strength she ignored the woman's warning of laying still and forced herself onto her back while she fumbled with her jacket with her free hand. Finding the object she was searching for she shakily withdrew her hand, she could feel herself fading fast. Staring up into the petite redheaded doctors eyes she forced horse words out of her throat

12345645321

Janet was surprised by the woman's strong grip and was vaguely aware that Daniel had taken a step forward, looking ready to offer any assistance he could. Despite her warning the woman rolled onto her back and stared up into her eyes. Just from a quick glance Janet knew that the woman was terminal and she could see her unspoken diagnosis in the unknown woman's eyes. She watched silently as the woman fumbled about with her jacket before finding what she had been looking for. The shaky arm then sought out her free hand and the woman spoke, "Take this... Help him... Sorry I...."

Janet felt the woman's arm go limp just as she spoke her final words. Temporarily ignoring what the strange woman had placed in her hand Janet reached forward and closed the woman's eyes and looked up into Daniels worried face. "She's dead... there was nothing I could do."

Daniel moved around the body and stepped beside Janet to help her up.

12345654321

Ranma allowed the tears to continue to fall as the girl and the man tried to assure her that she was going to be alright. They just did not understand, it was not for herself that she was crying. No she was crying because that she knew that if she did not leave them soon she would wind up hurting them, yet despite that fact she had ceased with her struggles to move and instead accepted the comforting warmth that the girl was offering. She needed it, human contact was something that she had longed for since the day's following her brutal murder of Sheila as Wanda had kept her isolated in a cage and only interacted with her from the safety of outside of the cage.

Ranma did not know what to do. She didn't know where she was nor how she had gotten there. She was tired, her body felt sluggish and weak and she had the feeling that she had not eaten in several day's. On top of that she was positive that neither of the two people that were with her were from the lab as she did not recognize either of their voices. That in itself raised an interesting question, Wanda had told her that the collar around her neck would allow her to keep tabs on him and yet no one from the lab was there. Reaching up with her hand she sought out the comfort and safety that the collar symbolized only to tense up when she found it absent from her person.

Jack frowned to himself at the girls reaction upon finding out that she was no longer collared like some wild beast. He figured that perhaps the girl had gotten used to it being on her and it was something akin to Stockholm syndrome.

Jack found himself unsure as to what he should do, usually he was great with kids but something about the entire situation had him unnerved. Moving his hand to the girls shoulder he gave it a light squeeze to get her attention and said, "I had to remove it, it was pumping some sort of drug into you and had a tracking device implanted in it. With any luck it's far away from here and will lead your pursuers onto a wild goose chase while we get you to safety."

Ranma's eyes opened wide at the news, if the man knew where the collar was then maybe he could get it back, then maybe Wanda would come and take her back and she would be prevented from hurting these nice people. Feeling the man's hand leave her shoulder Ranma again tried to sit up and this time was met with no resistance. Just the small effort of righting herself sent her head spinning but she persevered and smiled sadly when the girl offered her arm to help steady her.

Cassie smiled back weakly at the redhead as she steadied herself and offered a hopefully reassuring, "Hi, I'm Cassie." Hoping that would help keep the girl from freaking out and was met with a sad smile in return as the girl tried to scoot away from her.

Ranma carefully moved away from her benefactors for two reasons, one was so that she could get a better look at them and two while she had enjoyed the comfort from the other girl she did not want to risk hurting either of them should she revert back into the Neko-Ken.

Jack watched the girl carefully as she distanced herself from them, in the dim light of the cave he could see bright blue eyes taking in their surroundings. Seeing the girl open her mouth to speak and not hearing anything but a hoarse whisper Jack immediately reached for his Canteen to offer its contents to her, which she accepted readily and drank rather greedily.

Her thirst quenched Ranma set the canteen down at her side and wiped the remaining moister away from her face with her sleeve only to blink in surprise, she didn't recognize the sweatshirt that she was wearing.

Cassie noting the girls questionable expression took initiative and said, "It's mine... when we found you..."

Ranma nodded in understanding her face flushing in embarrassment as she realized that she was wearing a few more items that must belong to the girl, _"Cassie... she introduced herself as Cassie." _Ranma thought bringing her hand up to trace the strap of the bra while tears threatened to escape from her eyes once again. While she identified herself as a guy it was Sheila who had taught her to not fear the change but to embrace it and use it as an extension of himself. But that brought back the memory of what she had done to her friend making her feel the emptiness within herself that Sheila's death had brought about.

Jack idly wondered why a bra strap would make a girl cry before he attempted to distract her with, "I'm Jack... You already met Cassie there..." he motioned with one of his arms while leaving it open ended in the hopes that the little prod would keep the girl from sinking back within herself.

"Sorry... I'm Ranma..." Ranma sniffed out.

.


	5. Chapter 4

Well, first off... Merry Cristmas or Happy Holidays, my gift to you, a extended Chapter of 17000 words

`-A few quick notes about this chapter. I know that a lot of you don't care for a whiny emo Ranma but in this chapter he or she whatever is coming off of several drugs and some drugs mind altering ones don't just wear off after a good nights sleep. Hell there are some medications that can leave you feeling downright suicidal if you don't ween off of them correctly. That said this step has become necessary for the next step of the story that will be coming soon. So Ranma will be more Ranmaish and not so EMO in later chapters its just that I could not leave him unaffected.

Also I was sort of surprised that no one mentioned anything about what I did to Shampoo last chapter.

This chapter will also finish Ranma's introduction into the Stargate world and should be a lot less angst from here on out, the next chapter will start at season five, episode 4 I think.

And Finally I would like to thank James Axelrad for all his help.

1234321

1234321

Jack idly wondered why a bra strap would make a girl cry before he attempted to distract her with, "I'm Jack... You already met Cassie there..." He motioned with one of his arms while leaving it open ended in the hopes that the little prod would keep the girl from sinking back within herself.

"Sorry... I'm Ranma..." Ranma sniffed in slightly accented English out before steeling her emotions. Now was not the time to let her emotions get the better of her. No... She needed to get back to the lab before she put these people into any further danger by just being in her presence.

"Nice to meet you Ranma..." Jack replied with Cassie echoing his sentiments just scant seconds after him before he continued with, "I know you must be confused right now but..." Jack paused briefly wondering how he was going to explain what was going on to the girl without spooking her any further. Unfortunately child or not tact was never one of his strong points so he continued somewhat bluntly with, "you stumbled across Cassie early yesterday evening and have been unconscious ever since. I know that there are some very bad men after you... That collar you had on contained some sort of drugs as well as a tracking device" Jack paused briefly to make a mental note that Ranma showed a brief flare of recognition before visually suppressing it at the last part before he continued, "I also know that you." gesturing towards Ranma, "Have some sort of weird thing where you change genders somehow... Both Cassie and I saw you change. First into a boy then back into a girl." Jack finished leaving out the the matter that he suspected her to be some sort of alien or goa'uld experiment.

Ranma hung her head in embarrassment over having her curse found out but was forced to push that aside as the matter of where the collar was was foremost on her list. After setting both her hands back onto her knees she turned back to look at jack and asked, "Where is my collar now?"

Cautiously Jack responded, "With any luck floating down river."

Shaking her head Ranma tried to get the man to expand upon that answer with, "So you don't know?"

Jack blinked in confusion, the girl did not really seem to be all that glad to be rid of the collar. _"Maybe it's some sort of offshoot of Stockholm syndrome?" _He thought to himself before he responded with, "Does it really matter kid? What ever was in the collar could not have been good for you. For Christs sake, when you stumbled into Cassie you were half naked and covered with small cuts and bruises looking like you had been on the run for a few days." Seeing that the girl was going to try to interject jack finished with,, "But if it means so much to you, I gave to collar to a friend of mine and he went to dump the collar into the river."

Ranma sat there sullenly for a few moments not wanting to tell these people why it was so important that she get the collar back. Unfortunately she realized that she really did not have much of a choice. Sure, she could ask for it all day but the man, Jack, seemed dead set against it. Sighing in defeat she started, "Look, I really need the collar back. You are putting yourself in a lot of danger just being around me. But if you give me the collar back then my friends will come for me and you all will be safe. So please... Please call up your friend and tell him to bring it back here... Please... I'm begging you, you have no idea of how much danger you are in and I don't want anyone else hurt because of me. I mean look at your leg, let me guess, I did that in my sleep or something.... Right???"

Jack just stared at the girl for a minute, his mind busy attempting to figure out why she was so dead set on getting the collar back on. At first he figured that his earlier thoughts of the girl having Stockholm Syndrome was spot on but after mulling over what the girl had said it did not quite fit.

Ranma tried to sit their patiently as she waited for the man to give her an answer. Despite her outwardly calm demeanor, inside Ranma's thoughts were spiraling out of control. She was terrified about what would happen if she did not get the collar back on soon, she missed the safe solitude of her cell because at least there she was unable to place anyone in danger.

Cassie shifted her gaze between her two cave mates unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. She could tell that the girl was still frightened about something, herself, if what the girl said was true. Then again the girl had become a boy in front of her and while she didn't get a good look at his face because her attention had been distracted by the newly sprouted male attributes. Blushing over the memory Cassie decided to help buy Jack some time as he was busy formulating an answer for Ranma. "Hey Ranma??? "

Hearing her name Ranma nearly jumped having almost forgotten about the other girl while she awaited the older mans answer.

Cassie stifled a giggle at the redheads reaction and proceeded to ask, "How did you change into a boy before?"

Ranma shifted her position slightly, somewhat uncomfortable with answering the question. While Sheila had helped her become more open to the curse and accept it as a part of herself telling people about it always made her uncomfortable as she was rather horrible with judging their reactions, as she half expected someone to jump from out of nowhere calling her some sort of perverted freak.

Noticing that Ranma seemed reluctant to answer Cassie offered, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to I was just curios... I just thought that it was sort of neat... Though I suppose it can get a bit difficult... Do you change at random?" Truthfully Cassie did not find the transformation neat, to her it was rather frightening but she did have a slightly morbid curiosity about it. However, she did want to get Ranma talking about something other than the collar and frankly she was just a bit scared that the transformation might be some sort of disease.

Ranma blinked a few times attempting to get a read on if the girl was being serous or not, unfortunately having lead a somewhat isolated life due to near constant travel had left her woefully handicapped in that area. Turning her complete attention to Cassie she hesitantly stated while looking rather embarrassed, "I'm a guy... This body..." making a few quick motions to her more feminine assets, "Is a curse... Hot water changes me back into a guy and cold water changes me into this... And no it's not contagious you have to fall into a specific pool of water in china to get this curse... there's others, I know that there's one that turns you into a panda but I don't know any others."

Jack had been sitting quietly, deep in thought, despite the fact that his throbbing wound was attempting to divide his attention. He knew that he was a bit out of his depth with the girls fixation on retrieving the collar and while he could call Teal'c at any time he was not about to have that collar anywhere near them but at the same time he needed the girls cooperation as he did not really think that he had enough strength left in him to carry her kicking and screaming all the way to safety/

Finally though just as the girl was finishing explaining how she changed genders, something that Jack was going to file away for later as he was just a bit skeptical with her explanation. "You didn't hurt me kid..."

Ranma looked back to the man, somewhat shocked and puzzled as to what he was talking about. That is until she once again caught the scent of blood reminding her of his wound. Surprised at her self for forgetting and letting herself get sidetracked she turned her full attention back onto him, figuring that the drugs in her system where still affecting her to some degree. In a subdued quiet voice she sadly started, "It's okay... I know what I am..."

Once again Jack filed her comments away for future reference while thinking that whomever had her had to have done a number on the kids mind for her to have so much self loathing. "I was shot..." he explained, as he had a sudden epiphany, "Two men claiming to be federal agents came looking for you. When I admitted to having you they pulled their guns and where going to kill me right there... If not for the fact that they thought I was alone I would be dead right now... Instead I only got winged in the thigh." He new that he was heavily embellishing the story but complete honesty will have to wait as they were in way too much danger at the moment.

Ranma sat their stunned, she did not understand why the men from the lab would do such a thing. Wanda had told her that they all liked her and wanted to make sure that she did not hurt anybody ever again. "_Maybe those guy's weren't from the lab... Wanda would never tell them just to kill somebody for no good reason.."_ Deciding that there must have been some sort of mistake Ranma said, "Those guy's couldn't have been from the lab... " Covering her mouth Ranma realized that she had slipped up. She had not wanted to let them know about the lab, it was supposed to be a secret.

Cassie's mouth opened inn shock as all sorts of dark possibilities flowed across her mind.

Jack was not much better off, however he did have the added ability to control his reaction, from years off seeing the darker sides of mankind both through his work in black ops and the Stargate program. Instead he reached for the nearby backpack and shuffled through it before finding what he was looking for and tossing it to the petite redhead with a, "Here... I took this off of one of the guys... It's a tracking device. Go on turn it on."

Ranma shakily turned the device around in her hands, knowing where the on switch was having recognized the device as one that Wanda had shown her. Ranma wanted nothing more than to turn the device on so that she could track down her collar and use it to hopefully return back to the lab. However, she was worried, she did not understand why the people from the lab would try to kill anyone just because they had helped her.

"Are you going to turn it on?" Jack asked rather forcibly, "I can guarantee that it will lead you right to your collar... But you might want to ask yourself why they would be willing to kill the people you come into contact with." Noticing that the girl was seemly getting more distract Jack regretted his words, somewhat. He did not relish being harsh with the girl but he needed her to understand that the people she had escaped from were not her friends.

Ranma's eyes started to tear up, the drugs combined with her own feelings of guilt and self loathing were slowly chipping away at her composure.

Cassie shuffled across the cave floor until she was sitting right next to the quivering redhead. Whispering, "It's alright..." while taking the smaller girl into a warm embrace.

Jack sighed, he had no idea of what the kid went through or was going through, but he was fairly certain that the NID had been manipulating her for some reason. At first he thought it might have something to do with the ability to change genders but he shrugged that off. While the ability might come in handy for assassinations and to escape capture, the girl before him did not seem to be the type to just go about killing people left and right.

Hearing noises in the distance Cassie raised her head up and favored Jack with a glance while asking, "Did you hear that?"

Jack swore to himself while rising to his feet not bothering with replying to Cassie's question as he was busy attempting to listen for what he could have sworn was a shot gun firing in the distance. Hearing Cassie call his name once more he held up his arm to silence her while he limped towards the front of the cave, his leg feeling like it was on fire all the way.

Now standing near the entrance with his back against the side of the cave Jack listened closely for a few seconds until he heard the sound again. Sure he knew that there tended to be a fair amount of hunters in the area in the late summer but the odds that they would be shooting at something in the same vicinity that Teal'c was in were not that high. Also as he had been standing there he had heard quite a few shots so unless they were awful shots the shotgun blasts were coming from Teal'c.

Looking back towards the back of the cave he could see Cassie still holding the other girl in her arms as she looked back at Jack in worry.

He was torn, while he knew that Teal'c could handle himself there was a small matter of the NID wanting to get their hands on him as well and there was a distinct possibility that they could have set up a trap to capture Ranma and Teal'c might have stepped into in the girls stead.

Reaching down to his belt Jack clipped off the small two way radio he had taken off one of the NID agents. Holding it up near his mouth he called out, "Teal'c... You copy..."

Not hearing a response Jack rechecked the frequency to ensure that it was set properly. Nodding in affirmation he activated it once again calling out, "Teal'c you there???"

Not hearing anything other than static for a few minutes Jack swore. If Teal'c could have answered he would have by now so that meant he was too busy or even captured. Looking back at the kids he tried to come up with a solution. He didn't want to leave the kids alone as it was too dangerous with who knew how many NID agents crawling around.

"Though." He thought to himself, "_If I leave them here they should be alright as long as they don't make too much noise. I can go out scout around and if I can't find a trace of Teal'c I'll come back, get the girls to safety and then come back with reinforcements to look for Teal'c."_

His mind made up he crept back towards the girls and seeing the questioning look both girls were giving him he said, "I'm going to go check that out. I'll be right back so try not to make a lot of noise and stay hidden. I'll only be gone for 30 minutes or so..." Pausing Jack decided to add, "If I don't make it back by night fall I want you to head south east. There's a town about twenty miles in that direction where they will have a phone..." Giving Cassie a stern look that said that there was no time to argue he continued, "Cassie knows who to call."

Jack paused just short of leaving the cave and shook his head slowly. Turning around he headed back to the two girls and said, "I'm going to need that tracking device to help find Teal'c..."

Ranma nodded slowly not really knowing what was going on, but handed the man the device with a cautious, "Uhhmm... Sure okay..."

Jack nodded and replied, "Remember... if I'm not back by nightfall you two have to make it to the nearest phone... If I get caught out here the area will be crawling with NID agents so wait until night and be careful... But... Be on the look out " Shooting both girls one last look Jack turned around and started to make his way to Teal'c's position.

Jack spared the cave entrance one last concerned glance before he resumed his stealthy trek to Teal'c's location. He was concerned for the girls safety but at the same time Teal'c could be in just as much potential danger out there as there were plenty of NID scientists out there wanting to get a close look at his symbiont._ "Hopefully,"_ he thought,_ "General Hammond gets a team out here soon. I really don't want the kids running around out here with the NID around. Frasier's going to kill me... It's not like I have much of a choice... Besides... If it turns out that there's nothing I can do for Teal'c then I'll turn right back around and get the girls to safety."_

Glancing down at his watch he added_, "And I got a little over 8 hours to do so."_

12345654321

Earlier

1234567654321

Teal'c stopped abruptly in his tracks, his senses screaming out to him that there was something amiss. Glancing down to the small cooler in his hand he frowned, both he and O'Neill had known that the plan was rather risky, but they needed a diversion and this had been the best idea. Unfortunately it also allowed the NID to zero on his location.

Ducking behind the nearest tree and sinking down into a crouch Teal'c set the cooler to the side. Hearing a noise Teal'c peered around the tree while using his free hand to reach over his shoulder to grab the shotgun that was partially wedged into his backpack.

At first glance the seasoned Jaffa could not make out any change in the scenery, he was about to put the sound down to a wild animal when another twig snapped giving him a location. He barely had enough time to roll to the side as a familiar blue arc hit right where he had been. Bringing his weapon to bear He squeezed the trigger causing his attacker to roll to the side as he frantically attempted to dodge the incoming projectile.

Leaving the cooler where it lay, Teal'c jumped into a ready crouch before he sprinted forward to get cover behind a much larger tree, while squeezing off another shot at his attacker. With his weapon now out of ammo Teal'c reached into his pocket, taking out a small handful of shells. Flipping his wrist he dumped the two spent casings out from the shotgun only to replace them with what he had retrieved from his pocket. Now fully loaded he refocused on his surroundings looking for both his original attacker and whatever back up he might have brought with him.

Hearing another noise to his left Teal'c turned and automatically fired of a shot as he brought the old shotgun to bear. Instinctively knowing that his intended target had managed to dodge once more. Disallowing his irritation and his inability to hit his target known Teal'c once more scanned the scenery with his eyes intent on bringing down his foe.

12345654321

Jack leaned up against a tree, his thigh was throbbing and he had once more managed to open the wound there. Muttering under his breath, "I'm getting to old for this crap."

Realizing that he had not heard any shots in a while Jack worriedly took out the tracking computer and turned it on hoping that he would be able to use it to find Teal'c as well as that he was not already too late. Seeing a dot light up in it he inwardly rejoiced and once more resumed on his trek, noting that he still had a bit of a ways to go before he would be near Teal'c's position.

123456765421`

Ranma was being silent, unsure as to what was going on as well as a bit fearful of being left alone with Cassie. It wasn't that Cassie by herself was scary, but Ranma actually had felt a bit more secure with the older man who could have theoretically put her down with his gun if she started to lose it again. Now that he was gone and the best means of taking herself down with him she was a bit worried that her own instincts would cause her to kill the girl as Wanda had demonstrated time after time that she was unable to control the beast within. SO it was not so much of a fact that she was scared of Cassie but rather that she was scared of what she would do to the girl if she lost control of herself again.

In comparison her confusion as to what exactly was going on was rather simple. Sure, she knew what a gun was. She even recognized the threat potential of such a weapon. But never in her life had she ever heard one being fired and despite the fact that when she had first arrived she had been able to watch TV, it was rare for her to do so just for the sake of watching as usually Sheila had her watch a specific program and that would be it. So after silently musing on her own curiosity after a few minutes Ranma broke the silence while turning to Cassie and hesitantly asking, "Hey... Cassie? Uhmm... what were those loud bangs? Fireworks or something?"

Cassie shot the redhead a look trying to figure out if the other girl was messing with her or not but was unable to find any hint of it being a joke. With a sigh she softly stated, "Those were gunshots..." Noticing that the redheads face seemed to show a bit of confusion before recognition showed she added, "You haven't heard a gun fire off before? Where are you from that you've never heard a gun fire off before?"

Ranma was confused and briefly wondered if hearing gunfire was an everyday occurrence in the average American life before shaking it off and answering a few minutes later with, "Japan..."

Cassie had assumed that Ranma was not going to answer her and was beginning to put more faith in Jacks theory that the girl/boy was an alien. As while she had never heard a lot of gunfire aside from the fateful day that she had been taken through the Stargate from her home world of Hanka she had on occasion heard gunfire while attending a Rodeo or going to a state park, as some of them had ranges for target practice. Hearing Ranma answer though was enough to pull Cassie out of her own thoughts and after once again focusing on the redhead she said, "Sorry... What did you say?"

Ranma was still feeling rather conflicted and torn, while one part of her was telling her that she was only setting herself up for disappointment by forming even the smallest bond with anyone, the other part of her, the one that had been isolated his whole life from wandering around with his father wanted to talk to anyone that was willing to pay attention to her, was telling her that it didn't matter and that she needed to take advantage of the here and now and worry about going back to the lab and never seeing the girl again later. So after a moments reflection she restated, "I'm from Japan." and continued with, "Nowhere in particular... My old man and I traveled around a lot."

Cassie blinked, the short blue eyed redhead didn't really look all that much Japanese to her, then again she had never met a Japanese person before and besides the usual stereotypes she really did not know what to look for. Do instead of asking a question that would make her look like an ass she went with, "So how did you wind up here?"

Ranma shrugged she really didn't want to talk about it but given a choice between talking and returning to the awkward silence that had been there moments before her choice on what she preferred was obvious, "I was on a training trip for as long as I can remember, then in china after we had been cursed my pops and I stumbled across this guy that wanted to hire a skilled martial artist for a short time."

123454321

While Cassie and Ranma were busy talking to each other Jack had managed to catch up with Teal'c's location. At least the location of the collar as he could see the small cooler laying ten feet in front of him. Despite the fact that the NID had to know that tracking the collar was useless he had not really thought that they would leave it behind. Then again he could find no immediate trace of Teal'c so that meant that either the large former first prime had managed to get away or he had been captured.

Frowning in concentration Jack began to scan the area once more, this time looking for even the most minute details that he might have missed before entering the area. Noting that an area of a tree seemed to be discolored Jack approached it to get a better look and scowled recognizing the slight discoloration as a burn mark left behind from a Zat discharge.

Aside from the occasional Zat mark though Jack was hard pressed to find any evidence that Teal'c had been taken away. "Though," he grimly admitted to himself, "Three shots from a ZAT wouldn't leave behind much evidence."

Not wanting to even consider the possibility that Teal'c had been vaporized Jack began looking for anything else out of place. "Bingo!" He exclaimed catching sight of a small bit of fabric caught on a tree. With his sidearm gripped tightly he then moved onto his next task, looking for signs of a trail. For a few minutes it looked like Teal'c had been attempting to loose them but after carefully moving along the trail Jack realized that the trail had gotten much easier to track meaning most likely that Teal'c had been attempting to keep the NID on his trail to lead them away.

Taking another quick glance around to make cure that he hadn't missed anything Jack began to hurry after Teal'c as fast as he could while ensuring that in his haste he would not be heard by Teal'c's pursuers.

123454321

Agent Greyson smirked to himself as he followed the signs of a trail, small footsteps here, little blood over there, heaver boot print there. They were all leading him along the way telling him where his prey had run off too. Moments ago he had heard the request for assistance over the radio to deal with one of the men that had taken in Subject-27R but he had better things to do and bigger fish to fry. He knew from his own examination at the Cabin exactly who he was dealing with and decided to let the others handle Stargate command's pet Jaffa because without the Jaffa that left one injured man and two girls.

Sure he knew that Colonel O'Neill was a dangerous prey to hunt, but at the same time he was being hindered by two girls. Plus from the looks of it, one of the girls was being carried. Being familiar with the file on Subject 27R's abilities and strengths he correctly guessed that she was the one currently being carried. And while he was not certain of the identity of the other girl the way she left behind her footprints suggested that she was just along for the ride and was of no real consequence.

His grin turned into a full blown smile when he noticed that the tracks suddenly changed. The Jaffa's boot prints became nearly invisible while Colonel O'Neill's footsteps seemed to deepen and become slightly strained, as if what ever he was carrying was now almost too much for him. After shooting a glance at his backup and motioning him to come forward so they could converse silently he said, "They split up around here... The Jaffa headed west... The others are continuing to move southeast... Colonel O'Neill is injured, to what extent I do not know, but that doesn't matter as he will be further hindered due to the fact that Subject 27R is not conscious and the other companion is a young girl."

Agent Meeks nodded with Greyson's assessment, he had worked with the man before and knew that despite his cruel sadistic nature that he was one of if not the best tracker that the NID was currently fielding. Normally neither of them would have been readily available for a mission of this sort on US soil but they had been called back some time ago in the event that Subject 27R escaped. He knew that Agent Greyson had been very enthusiastic in accepting their current mission as it would allow for both of them to vent over having to spend the past several weeks on their collective assess. For himself, he had taken no small amusement in the fact that their orders had been different from the others since the get go and as such they were both equipped with Zats and P-90's. The fact that he had been ordered to terminate the subject from the beginning of the operation if deemed necessary was of little concern to him, he just hoped that after they took care of the subject's sole defender that there would be enough left over for him and his partner to release some frustrations.

123454321

Having moved her position to where she was leaning her back against the side of the cave, Cassie watched her cave mate sedately devour a bag of cooked bacon. The cave's atmosphere had taken a rather subdued and uneasy feel in the hour or so since Jack had left.

At first everything had .seemed almost okay as Ranma seemed to open up a bit about his past but that soon tapered off as it seemed that the redhead's attention kept refocusing on more recent events despite Cassie's attempts to focus on her past.

So she had shifted tactics and tried to relate to Ranma from her own experiences. Originally this had included tidbits from her homeland as she had gotten the feeling that Ranma had lived a rather isolated life. Unfortunately since Ranma was claiming to be from Japan that left a lot of holes and half truths in Cassie's story. Not wanting to loose whatever headway she had managed to make with Ranma's trust Cassie shifted tactics and tried to talk about how much her life had changed since her move to Colorado springs. Fortunately she realized quickly enough that while Ranma seemed to have accepted her dual nature she obviously was not wrapped up in American culture. Ranma had actually apologized at her lack of knowledge and said that she was a guy and despite her body, accepted as it was, she would probably never be that mentally invested. Of course Ranma had not used those words but Cassie had gotten the gist of it.

Shaking her head she was having a bit of difficulty seeing Ranma as a boy, it was not that she seemed overly effeminate or anything like that but Cassie had cleaned her as well as dressed her and as a result, had seen her 'charms' whereas she had only caught a fleeting glance of Ranma as a male.

Sparing Ranma one more glance Cassie noticed that the redhead was just finishing off the last of the bacon. _"Where does she put it that was almost two pounds of bacon?" _she thought to herself before she notice Ranma tense.

23445654321

Ranma sighed, she had been starving and that bacon had really hit the spot. She was about to ask Cassie if she could have some more water to wash it down with when she sensed some people moving around outside of the caves entrance causing her to tense up. Looking over to Cassie she noted the puzzled look she was receiving so she decided to warn her by making motions with her hands while she struggled silently to her feet.

12345654321

Teal'c watched cautiously as he waited for his pursuers to enter the clearing. He had managed to find himself a rather good defensive position and was ready to spring his trap. Seeing the first man pass his marker he gently eased his finger to the trigger wanting to wait until the last member of their party had emerged.

12345654321

Meeks looked over to his crouched companion and nodded while flipping his cell phone closed, having just received new orders to terminate the subject. Whispering quietly he stated, "Word from the top... Wafter terminating the subject we're to head to Minneapolis.... We're to relieve the team in China and await further instructions from there." Without sparing his companion another glance Meeks knew that they had reached the same conclusion for a plan of attack. The girls were alone in the cave. They were very faint but they were there, footprints that showed that the Colonel had left the cave and from the looks of it not that long ago.

Noting that his partner was in agreement with his plan Agent Greyson stood up and made his way to the front of the cave while motioning his partner to retreat back into the tree line for a moment. Grinning widely he called out, "Ranma... We're here to bring you home..."

123454321

Cassie shivered with dread knowing that with both Jack and Teal'c gone they were pretty much defenseless. Despite that she wasn't ready to throw in the towel at that moment as she was worried about what was going to happen to both of them once they found out that they were all alone in the cave without a means to defend themselves.

Thinking about what Jack would do in a situation Cassie resisted the urge to call out sarcastically, There's no one in here but us bears. Instead she replied with a false sense of bravado, "Don't come any closer I have a gun and I know how to use it. "_There..."_ she thought, "_It's not a total lie... I do know how to use one... I just don't happen to have one on me."_

Noticing Ranma using the side of the cave to help her creep back into the far recesses of the cave to join her once mare Cassie sighed in relief she had been worried that Ranma might try to go back with them out of guilt.

1234567654321

Meeks rejoined his partner near the entrance of the cave now that they had ensured that the girls were all alone in there. Taking over for his partner he called out, "Ranma... Just come on out... Miss Struthers has been besides herself with worry since you disappeared...."

12345654321

Hearing gunfire just up ahead Jack quickened his pace forgoing the need for stealth as he closed in on Teal'c position. Wincing as the pan in his thigh increased tenfold he carried on driving himself through the pain.

12345654321

Recognizing the mans voice as one of her guards Ranma knew that he was from the lab and was barely able to restrain herself from exiting the cave to go back. Looking down at her feet so she could avoid looking into Cassie's eyes Ranma called out, "Why'd you shoot Jack?" It was a simple question Ranma knew but she was still having a hard time believing that Wanda would let anyone come to harm over her as she had been so helpful ensuring that her staff be protected from him.

After glancing once more at Agent Greyson to make sure that they were still on the same page Meeks replied, "That wasn't us Ranma..."

"BULL..." Cassie yelled out, she could tell that Ranma wanted to go with them and would if she didn't do something quick. Lifting up the redheads face to meet hers she whispered harshly, "They're lying to you.... Whomever this Wanda person is she isn't your friend.... I know you want to go back but if you do they'll kill me, Jack and Teal'c."

Ranma shook her head in denial and whispered out a hoarse, "No... Wanda would never do that to me... She cares about me even after all I've done..."

Frustrated and angry Cassie gave Ranma a exasperated look before calling out, "Oh yeah... What about the tracking device that Jack found on the guy's who attacked his cabin?"

Biting back a chuckle Meeks replied, "We don't know who they were... All we do know is that whomever they were they killed the teams from the lab and took their equipment." Changing his tone to convey his sincerity he added, "Ranma, you have to trust us... you know how dangerous you are without the collar on..."

Ranma deflated, she knew that they were right. As it was it had been a miracle that she hadn't hurt anyone else so far. But there was one last question to ask, "What about Cassie, Jack and their friend?"

Meeks shrugged and replied, "They can go home. No harm will come to them... Come on now you know that ever since Sheila died Wanda has been very careful to make sure that there was no needless loss of life."

Ranma nodded to herself, she felt like a heel for doing what she was about to but deep down knew that it was for the best.

Cassie grabbed Ranma's shoulders and hissed, "Don't do it... They're just using you..."

Ranma grabbed a hold of Cassie's wrists and gently removed them from her shoulders while saying, "I have to go... I already put you in enough danger... I'm sorry..."

To say that she was petrified would have been understating things as Cassie watched the smaller girl walk out of the cave. She knew she couldn't blame Ranma for it though as she was just doing what she thought was best for everyone. _"I just wish Jack would hurry up and get here... What if they decide to..."_ the sounds of a faint click accompanied by a blue flash snapped Cassie right out of her thoughts as she began to step fearfully i=backwards away from the front of the cave.

1234567645321

Janet walked through the cabin with a sense of foreboding in her gut, Sam and Daniel having already secured the area. She had already seen the two dead bodies, one in the front yard the other in the main room of the cabin but as things were any hope that Colonel O'Neill had stayed in the area of the cabin was quickly diminishing. Currently the three of them were looking for some clue or hint to as where they could have went. So far they had not had any luck.

The kitchen was a mess, still having half finished plates of food laying about. The main room looked to have multiple blood stains in the carpet showing that someone other than the two dead men had been walking around injured to some extent. The bathroom had some blood smears on the floor and in the sink, while a pair of bloody mens jeans lay crumpled up in the small garbage can. Nearing the fist bedroom Janet peered in long enough to ascertain that the room belonged to the Colonel. Turning to her left she pushed open the door slightly. Noting the discarded clothes on the bed and floor Janet stepped inside. Picking up one of her daughters frumpy nightgowns Janet knew that this had been the room that her daughter had been using. That is unless there was something Teal'c was not telling them.

Feeling a fair bit frustrated at not knowing where her daughter was Janet sat down heavily down on the bed, hugging her daughters nightgown to her chest while closing her eyes. After several minutes she sighed and set the nightgown down next to her on the bed after folding it neatly.

Just as she was about to rise off the bed and exit the room she noticed Cassie's laptop was sitting on top of the dresser. Reaching into her pocket she fingered the small USB drive wondering what was on it. For several seconds she debated whether or not she should risk the drive on Cassie's computer, but after considering the unknown woman who had given her the drive had been spying on her before she had been purposely run down she decided to risk it as the woman obviously wanted her to have the information.

Her mind made up on the matter she rose off the bed and went over to where the laptop was sitting. After tracking down the power cable and letting it boot up she plugged in the mobile drive. After scrolling through the contents of the drive she came across a document marked to, 'To the SGC'.

Before she had even gotten through the first paragraph her hand was being used as a shield to mask her shock. By the end of the second paragraph her face had paled in realization of what exactly she was reading and what the USB drive contained. Tearing her eyes away from the screen Janet forcibly calmed herself before calling out, "Sam... Daniel... Come here I think you might want to take a look at this.."

Hearing foot steps coming rapidly down the hall, Janet moved the laptop into a better position so that the three of them would be able to look at it at the same time. Hearing Sam come in the room and ask her, "What did you find?" Janet replied, "Cassie's laptop... remember the USB drive that the woman who Daniel said was watching me had..." Seeing both Daniel and Sam nod she continued, "Well I just loaded it up and you're going to want to take a look at this."

Stepping aside Janet allowed enough room for Sam and Daniel to be able to read the screen while she scrolled back to the top of the document before stepping back and allowing them to take over. Patiently she waited while they skimmed it over, watching as their faces had similar reactions to her own. Finally after a few minutes they both turned to her with matching looks of disbelief on their faces as if they were hoping that what they had read was a work of fiction. Shaking her head she replied to their unasked question with, "I think its true... It seems to match up with what little information the general had gotten from Colonel O'Neill... And while I'm not too sure on the meta human capabilities the preparation for the mind stamp procedure does make sense... At the least it gives us an idea of what we are dealing with here as well as what the NID are after..."

"True..." Drawled Daniel as he was trying figure out a way the information could be used to help them locate them.. "I suppose if we can stumble across one of those tracking devices that are tuned into the collar we should be able to find them... So I suppose then it's just a matter of finding the NID then."

"Not necessarily Daniel..."Sam started, "Actually I have an idea." Not wanting to waste any time Sam fished her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed General Hammond's direct line. Once she heard him pick up she said, "General... I believe that we have found a way to find the Colonel and the others."

"Go ahead Major, I'm listening." General Hammond replied.

"Sir we have arrived at the Colonel's cabin and found two dead NID agents... There is signs here that the Colonel left after taking out the two agents, but he left no sign as to where he was heading. His truck is still outside though so they must be on foot."

"I see..." General Hammond stated.

"But we have more Intel on the girl that the Colonel found and apparently she was being experimented on by the NID, she had a tracking device installed on her collar that we can use to find the Colonel if he still has it." Taking in a deep breath Sam then added, "We need one of the rivet joint's out of Nebraska deployed into the area. The collar the girl was wearing has a tracking chip installed in it so the sensors on board the rivet joint should be able to pick it up and tell us where to go."

Nodding his head in thought General Hammond replied, "I'll have one in the air asap and have you patched through once its in range..."

"Thank you sir."

"Is that all major or was there something else?"

"I also have an address sir for the NID lab and could use some help here on the ground as well."

"Very well, I'll have Ferretti take his team and some SF's out to the NID lab and have what ever available teams I can get out to you as soon as possible."

12345654321

Meeks smiled as warmly as he could when he noticed the redhead leaving the cave with a sullen look on her face. Sensing Greyson behind him he started moving to keep the brats attention on himself giving his partner the opportunity to take her down.

12345654321

After being hit by the blue arc of light Ranma felt her body give way as she tumbled down face first into the dirt. It was weird she decided what ever they had done to her hadn't knocked her out. What had done though was temporarily paralyze her as she could not move her body at all. The only thing she could do at the moment was listen in growing horror at what was about to happen

23456765432

"I'm going to go in and get the other brat Greyson..." Meeks commented as he stopped to kick the redhead in the side, smiling when he failed to illicit a response.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Greyson commented as he peered lecherously down at Ranma

"If you mean that we have a little fun before we dispose of the bodies... Then yes..." Meeks replied, before adding as an afterthought, "Don't you think that we should just Zat her into oblivion now... I mean she's really a guy and I ain't into that sort of thing..."

"Don't look like no guy I've ever seen... Besides the file says the change is complete... "

Meeks shrugged at his companion before taking out his own Zat and walking into the cave, humming cheerfully as he went.

Cassie stumbled backwards and fell as her feet got caught up on a root through the dim light of the cave she could see a brute of a man slowly stalking forward in silence.

Meeks smiled nastily as he heard the sound of a body falling as he crept along waiting for his eyes to adjust to the near total darkness of the cave. "You might as well just come out now... Maybe I'll go easy on you... Hell if you're a good girl I might even let you live" He taunted.

"You might have fooled Ranma into trusting you but I know what you are..." Cassie ground out in defiance as she tried to struggle to her feet.

"Oh and what am I little girl..." Meeks laughed out as his eyes began to home in on the girl.

"Dead once my Uncle Jack gets back here..." Cassie stated fiercely with a renewed fire in her eyes.

Chuckling Meeks closed the remaining distance between them, casually knocking away a frantic kick aimed at his person before lunging forward and pinning the girl against the side of the cave.

123457654321

Stepping halfway over the downed freak Greyson knelt down so that he was straddling her. Reaching into the small of his back he pulled out a crescent bladed knife. After examining it in his hands he began to slowly trace the blade around the redheads face seemly wanting to savor every last minute. Frustrated that his unconscious soon to be victim made not so much as a peep of protest, he drew his non knife hand back and laid a viscous smack across the girls face.

Grinding his teeth in aggravation from his slap not waking the girl he became impatient. If the girl wasn't going to cooperate than why should he. Somewhere in the back of his brain it might have registered to him that waking the kid up would be a very bad thing to do. However despite knowing her capabilities in theory seeing the delectable lithe redheaded frame beneath him gave him an added source of power.

Careful so as to not damage his well deserved treat Greyson took the knife and used it to separate the girls sweatshirt from her person, not caring for the frantic screaming coming from the insides of the cave. Now with the sweatshirt peeled away he turned his focus to the firm orbs encased in a rather simple looking bra. Using his knife he once again started to trail the blade along the girls skin using a bra as his guide.

Gradually he lost himself into his ritual, the screams of defiance echoing from the cave muted, the slow rustle of the trees seemed to still ever so slightly until there was only him and his intended victim. Finished with his ritual he slowly brought the knife to the center of the girls chest so that he could relieve her bra of its bountiful burden with just a flick of his wrist. He was so engrossed in his task he failed to register the redheaded freaks eyes snapping open

123454321

Ranma's eyes snapped open with righteous fury, she had felt it all... heard it all... Cassie's screams... Feeling the blood pumping through her veins once more, she let out a low guttural snarl as rage took control of her body. Reaching forward with her left hand she caught the mans knife hand by the wrist and squeezed, shattering the joint with no effort at all. Paying no head to the man still mounted on top of her she slashed forward with her right relieving the man of a large section of his non injured arm causing him to fall off of her and into the fetal position on the damp ground.

Flipping to a three legged stance Ranma hissed with rage while circling his fallen form.

Greyson tried to fight through the pain but with a large chunk of one arm missing and the other shattered he was barely aware of the world around himself. Hearing yet another angry hiss he tried to spot his attacker and managed to turn to meet her eyes only to freeze. Looking back at in the girls eyes he idly noted that they had taken an almost inhuman quality to them as they seemed to glow, enhancing her blue eyes with a dark hue. He opened his mouth to say something but whatever his words were to be were lost as she lunged forward and bit down on his throat causing his words to become a gargled mess as she ripped his neck apart.

Ranma's eyes started to dim ever so slightly as the primary threat convulsed one last time before death but another scream snapped her back into her angry state. With the beast within her still in control she turned to the cave and let out another growl. Inside there she knew her newly made friend was being attacked causing her to lunge forward into a gallop.

12345654321

"Come on Teal'c let's get a move on it." Jack stated as he finished checking over the last body for anything useful.

"I am ready when you are." Teal'c responded dryly as he offered his friend a hand in getting up While adding, "Are you sure that it wise to aggravate your wound once more."

Jack dusted off the dirt from his pants with a reassuring smirk while stating, "I'll be fine... Sides I want to get back to the girls before someone finds them.".

12345654321

Cassie knew that the man was just toying with her, letting her appear to have hope in getting away from the situation before he resumed his sick little game. Her own voice was starting to get hoarse from her screaming and her hopes of Jack and Teal'c striding in to her rescue were looking dim but she was not going to give up. She couldn't, Ranma was out there suffering the same fate or worse right now and she felt that she had to do something. More so there was no way she was going to let this creep touch her.

Using whatever strength she could muster she brought her knee up for what felt like the hundredth time in an effort to at least damage the man where it counted only to have it blocked once more as the man resettled his weight on her legs once more.

Meeks grinned to himself as he brought his face within inches of the girls, he could tell that he was steadily driving the fight from the girl and felt that it was almost time for him to claim his prize. Using one arm to support his weight he used the other to grab the girls face an hold it steady so he could get a little taste but then something, a faint rustling, caught his attention. Thinking that it was his partner he frustratingly called back, "I'm not done yet... what do ya want?"

Not hearing any response Meeks frowned in agitation. Using his forearm and lower body to keep the girl pinned beneath him he turned halfway around, intent on giving his partner a piece of his mind for interrupting his fun. In mid turn his body paused as an angry beastial yowl stopped him dead in his tracks. Daring to just move his eyes he homed in on the sound and froze. Recognizing the sound for what it was he weakly prostrated, "Nice kitty... Was just having a little fun... See no ones hurt..."

Noting that his words seemed to have no effect other than to make the girl look even more angry. Meeks ever so slowly began to slide off of his former prey and inch himself to where he left his weapons.

No longer trapped beneath the weight of the man, Cassie took the opportunity to scoot away from him and huddle against the wall with her eyes still locked on her former attacker's frame. Even in the dim light of the cave she could see the utter dread and fear laced across the mans face and a small part of her wondered what could do that as she watched him inch slowly away from her.

Tearing her gaze from her would be attacker Cassie's eyes widened in worry. She had been expecting Jack or Teal'c but instead Ranma was there and there was something very wrong about her/him. It was almost like Ranma had become some sort of ferocious beast or something, standing there in a loose three point stance with blood splattered across her shirtless body. Hearing the redhead yowl Cassie was instantly reminded of the first time she had seen the other teen. At the time she had just chalked it up to her imagination but now, now with the shadows in the cave and Ranma's overall posture she could easily connect the redhead with some sort of giant angry cat.

Still though as her eyes could see it her mind could not at that moment comprehend what had happened to the other girl sometimes boy. With a shaky voice riddled with doubt she called out, "Ranma???"

Meeks lunged for his p-90 the moment the other girl had distracted Subject 27R. Wrought with adrenaline over the situation he fumbled with the safety while bring the weapon to bear on his target. Unfortunately for him Ranma's small distraction had not been long enough and the feral teen was already in motion before he even had the P-90 pointed away from the ground. Hastily he squeezed the trigger hoping that the constant flow of lead would be enough to keep the redheaded animal away.

Cassie watched horrified as her unintentional distraction bought enough time for the sleezebag whom had attacked her to reach his gun. Her eyes widened as she witnessed Ranma blur forward with inhuman speed, taking the mans gun arm and bending it backwards with a sickening crunch.

Then quicker then she could even blink Ranma threw the man against the cave wall causing a noticeable impact crater. The slowly Ranma began to stalk the man her left side seeming unsteady. Just as the redhead was within arms reach she stopped and raised her arms, glowing red blades seemed to grow out from her hands elongating until each one was roughly a foot long.

Cassie had tried to cry out, to stop Ranma from doing what she had been about to do but it had come to late. By the time the frantic scream of, "Ranma..." had left her mouth the man had been already dead.

1234567654321

Ranma's head jerked back in surprise as Cassie's scream pulled her back into complete control. Looking between the shredded body her own hands and the girl she had just saved she became wrought with guilt. She had killed again, taken two more lives just like she had done to Sheila. It did not matter to her that she had not been in complete control of herself, nor did it matter to her what the men had been planning to do to them. She was a martial artist, trained since she could walk to be in complete control of her own actions and yet she had brutally slaughtered two more people. People that he could have taken down non lethally with little effort. Not wanting to see the hatred and disgust in Cassie's face Ranma turned, holding her side as she started to stumble out of the cave.

Cassie was scared and confused yet none of that compared to the worry she felt when she saw Ranma turn away from her. She had realized that Ranma had not been in control and somehow she knew that those two men had something to do with why Ranma had been like she was. The look on Ranma's face, one of loneliness and despair tore at Cassie's heart. Struggling to her feet she called out, "Ranma... Stop... Please..."

To her contrition though her plea fell on seemly deaf ears as Ranma continued to struggle to leave the cave.

Cassie shakily climbed to her feet and took a few uncertain steps before nearly tripping over her two feet. Steading herself with one hand against the wall she tried to shake the last vestiges of shock over what had just happened. After a few deep breaths she started off again, this time she stopped short realizing something important. There were people out there hunting for Ranma and without Jack or Teal'c they were almost defenseless. Well she was, Ranma on the other hand she wasn't so sure anymore and did not want to think about what they had been doing to her.

Realizing that the man that had attacked her had been carrying a weapon Cassie turned around to look for it. After a few moments of searching she was finally able to find it. Next, she decided, that she needed to gather up what supplies she could gather as well as get anything useful from the corpse.

Swallowing the Bile that threatened to rise from her throat Cassie made her way over to the dead body of the man that attacked her. Closing her eyes, she wished briefly that she was back at home with her mom, only to sigh in disappointment when she reopened them. Grimacing at the task before her she began to did through the mans pockets and holsters, pulling out a strange looking device that resembled some sort of ray gun Cassie slid it into her own pocket before locating a few clips for the p-90.

Finished with her task she slid the backpack into place and shouldered the P90. Standing up she adverted her eyes from the corpse and started to make her way out of the cave towards Ranma. Normally she would not have let the other girl get out of her sight but with how the girl was moving Cassie doubted that she would get far before she caught up.

Dashing out of the cave she almost ran right into another body. Looking down she once again forced the bile down into her throat, this body while not as torn apart as the one inside the cave had the benefit of natural lighting to show Cassie the extent of damage that Ranma had inflicted upon him.

Taking a quick glance around she spotted another P90 as well as a few other useful items along with the the torn remains of the sweatshirt that she had dressed Ranma in that morning. Picking everything up Cassie grunted with strain. She had prided herself with maintaining a decent shape,. Often joining her mother in her morning runs but with all that she was now carrying she felt almost like a pack mule.

Looking around she tried to figure out where Ranma had ran off to before spotting a bloody hand print on a tree. Wanting to catch up with Ranma before she got too far away Cassie broke into a slow jog, wincing as the straps to everything she was carrying dug into her shoulders.

123454321

Jack came to a sudden stop, huffing heavily as he tried to squeeze the pain in his thigh away.

"Are you alright O'Neill?" Teal'c asked not allowing his concern for his friend to show.

"P... Peachy... Just... Peachy..." Jack wheezed out in between gulps of air. "Just need to catch my breath... I'm getting to old for this..."

"Perhaps I should go on ahead then."

"No we need to stick together and get back to the girls..." Jack stated more clearly as he finally managed to catch his breath.

Teal'c had been about to suggest that they get moving again when he heard something in the distance. Turning to his friend he stated, "O'Neill... Do you hear that?"

"Hear what Teal'c???": Jack stated before he shot up straight, "That's a chopper... Teal'c we're going to have to get that collar back."

Teal'c not quite getting what jack was getting at with wanting to retrieve the collar asked, "Are you sure that that would be wise?"

"Teal'c if that chopper out there is looking for us the odds are that they won't find us... Not with how dense this forest is... We're going to need a little help, I figure by now the NID are closing in on our position anyway so it would be just a matter of time before we get pulled into another firefight... If we can get them all to come at us at the same time then perhaps we'll make enough noise or something to draw the choppers attention... And if we don't then at least we get to set the terms with how and when we fight..."

12345654321

A sense of vertigo washed over Ranma as she stumbled towards into another small clearing hoping that she was putting as much distance between herself and Cassie as possible before she lost control of herself again. Falling to her knees she found that all her exertion and the throbbing in her side had been a bit too much for her as the contents of her stomach erupted out onto the grass in front of her.

Several minutes later a red faced out of breath Cassie stumbled into the clearing looking franticly for the redheaded teen. Seeing Ranma huddled over heaving Cassie did her best to dash over, dropping her acquired backpack and weapons into the dirt as she knelt next to the other teen.

"Get away..." Ranma croaked out as she tried to flinch away from Cassie.

Cassie shook her head and softly replied, "No I want to help you..."

Gasping for breath Ranma rebutted, "I don't want to hurt you..."

"You're hurt..." Cassie stated noting the bloody hand that was clutched protectively to Ranma's side. "Let me help you..."

"I'm... Fine..." Ranma croaked out while struggling to rise to her feet.

"Definitely a guy." Cassie muttered before she tried to force Ranma back onto the ground.

"Let me go..." Ranma screeched as she continued to struggle but not finding the strength to put up any more than a token effort.

Surprised at the lack of strength that Ranma was showing Cassie forced the other girl to her back, trying to keep calm as her frayed nerves winced at the amount of blood.

"LET ME GO... LET ME GO..." Ranma screamed out not wanting Cassie anywhere near her before her voice cracked and she trailed off into tears, "Can't you see i'm a monster... A freak.... a pathetic worthless girl..."

Grabbing a semi clean shirt from her backpack Cassie tried to clam Ranma down with, "Ranma, I'm not going to let you go. You're not a monster or a freak. You need help." After swabbing at her bare torso she added, "You've been shot, it's bleeding... a lot."

Ranma tried to respond but her vision was spinning and her side was burning. Weakly she protested, "You need to go... I don't want to hurt you... don't want to loose... control."

"I'm not going to leave you." Cassie reinforced before she added, "Besides what kind of person abandons their friends."

"I'm a monster... I killed those two..." protested Ranma as she struggled to find her voice.

"Shhhh.... Just stay still..." Cassie soothed as she finished cleaning up the blood as best as she could with the wound still open. Taking out a spare shirt from her pack Cassie added reasonably, "Ranma, they were going to kill us after they finished with us... it was self defense." Wadding up the shirt Cassie grabbed a hold of Ranma's hand and placed it onto the wound over the shirt and stated, "Hold this here, keep pressure on it."

234567654321

Sam slid the patio door open and stepped outside, seeing Janet leaning against a tree twenty feet away she stopped for a second wanting to give the other woman a chance to gather her thoughts.

Janet tilted her head to the side and smiled weakly at Sam before turning her attention to the surrounding forest. She had been agonizing over her daughter ever since General Hammond had briefed her that morning and to be so close only to wait until they had a means to find them was tearing away at her nerves. Janet sighed, she wasn't one to usually brood about things beyond her control, she was an air force officer, and a doctor. With the high stress situations her job placed her in had only added another layer of calm collectiveness to her.

This time though her daughter was missing and that put an entirely different spin on things. Because above all she was a mother and it was in her nature to worry for her child, especially with all that she had been through. Janet could not even afford to look on the bright side of things, that Jack and Teal'c were out there right along with her to keep her safe. No, Janet knew the truth, she had gone over the information on the USB drive and knew the lengths the NID would go through to either retrieve the child or dispose of him. It was plain and simple, Cassie was just another target to the NID, a possible weakness to be exploited.

Hearing Janet's sigh Sam approached and enveloped the fellow officer in a quick hug, disengaging herself she asked, "How are you holding up?"

Janet allowed a grateful smile to cross her face before responding, "I'm worried... The letter in the file said that there about agents out there searching for this, 'Ranma' with the possibility of more. If the bloody pants in the bathroom are any indication, Jack is wounded..."

Not liking where Janet's current line of thinking was taking her Sam interrupted, "Hey, that's the Colonel out there... Not to mention that Teal'c is right here beside him... Besides Cassie is a very bright girl. The Colonel would take on a system lord's army of Jaffa before he let Cassie get hurt."

"I suppose... Janet added slowly wanting to believe her friend. It's not that she had doubts about the Colonel's abilities, no it was more of a matter that her mind was punishing her for all the difficulties that had recently popped in between her and her daughter.

Giving Janet a concerned look Sam then asked, "It's not like you to be this doubtful... What's really wrong Janet?"

"I can't... It's Just... You know about the problems Cassie and I have been having lately... If I hadn't forced her to come on this trip then she's be back at home safe and sound..."

Swinging an arm around Janet's shoulders Sam stated, "Janet, it's not your fault. You couldn't have known..." Hearing her cell phone ring Sam paused and reached into her pocket. After flipping it open she responded, "Major Carter here..."

"...........:"

"I see..."

"............."

"Radio the rescue chopper and tell them to come pick us up then...."

"............."

"Once we're in the air then you can send the coordinates to the pilot...."

"..........."

"Okay...." Snapping the phone closed Sam turned to Janet and stated, "That was the comms officer on the Rivet Joint they just entered range and are picking up several radio signals, but believe that they have a fix on the tracking device on the collar... We're going to take the chopper to get into the general vicinity and then look for a place to set down to continue on foot... "

12345654321

Jack ducked behind a tree and pulled out his Zat, firing several quick bursts of returning fire to a group of three agents who they had just stumbled upon. Hearing two quickly released shot gun blasts fired from nine o'clock told him of Teal'c position behind him.

Feeling the time constraints of having left both girls undefended Jack grumbled to himself and pulled out his side arm. Using both weapons he began firing rapidly to buy Teal'c the opportunity to move into a better position.

Teal'c reloaded in mid run before grabbing his own pilfered Zat. Now armed with a Zat in one hand he assisted O'Neill in laying down suppressive fire , while waiting for one of their attackers to make a mistake and show their head.

Taking advantage of Teal'c's added support Jack moved quickly to take shelter behind a fallen tree where he continued to lay suppressive fire so that Teal'c could make another advance.

Teal'c's well trained eyes caught site of one of the Rouge NID agents reading to make a break for it, leveling his shotgun he squeezed off two quick shots falling the man just as he had risen.

Jack saw the first agent go down and was about to make a quick quip to Teal'c but refrained as he had to focus on his targets whom had switched their targets and were trying to focus on the large Jaffa. Taking advantage of the situation Jack took a few steps from behind his cover and took to steps to the right before firing off a well aimed shot with his side arm, following it up with a Zat blast for extra insurance.

Teal'c stepped behind another tree to reload the shot gun, unflinching as a near miss impacted the tree just inches from where his head had been. Giving a quick glance over to O'Neill he noticed that the man had moved from behind his cover and was advancing on the sole remaining agent. Noting that the last agent was turning to return fire Teal'c made his move.

After watching the last man go down under the Jaffa's craftiness, Jack approached cautiously, making sure that all three of their attackers were neutralized. Once that was done he barked to Teal'c, "Empty out everything from their pockets and put it in a pile. If it's of use we'll keep it... If not we'll use the Zats on it to make sure that no one else can use it."

1234567897654321

Cassie looked around worriedly, her heart wanting to burst forth from her chest at every odd sound that the forest made. Looking down at Ranma she frowned in concern, they had been sitting in silence ever since she had begun to apply pressure to Ranma's wound and from just looking the redhead looked like hell. Taking her hands she begun to run them through Ranma's short hair, noting that the girl must have fallen asleep at some point.

Hearing another noise in the distance Cassie barely restrained the urge to jump up and start spraying the forest with hot led. She really wanted to get out of the open, but did not know if she should move Ranma or not. She did remember her mother mentioning that sometimes she would have to go into the field when people were too injured to be moved but Cassie was no doctor and did not know which injuries were too severe. All she had to go by was high school biology and the fact that Ranma had been able to walk, albeit not very well after getting shot.

Taking her free hand Cassie moved it over to Ranma's wound and gently settled her hand over the redheads. Gently in the hopes to not disturb Ranma too much, Cassie removed the wadded up shirt and set it carefully aside. Frowning in concentration the wound did look like it had closed up, in any case Cassie could see that it was not bleeding anymore.

Hearing another strange sound from the woods Cassie made up her mind. After re wadding up the shirt to make sure a clean side was now covering the wound Cassie began to lightly nudge Ranma awake. After several frustrating attempts she succeeded in rousing the redhead. As slightly unfocused eyes homed in on her she stated, "Ranma, we need to get back to the cave... We can't stay in the open like this much longer... Do you think you can walk?"

Ranma nodded meekly, she wasn't sure at the moment because she was feeling too drained to do much of anything, but she felt that she had caused Cassie enough trouble already to disagree or even try to convince the girl to just leave her there.

"Okay first things first..." Cassie stated while removing her belt. "I'm going to use my belt to help keep the wound covered... Can you try to sit up for me?"

Ranma nodded once again before she nearly doubled over in pain as she rose too fast.

"Careful... You need to go slow otherwise you'll reopen the wound." Cassie chided as she gently eased Ranma up.

123456545321

Breathing heavily Cassie readjusted her grip on Ranma before adjusting the straps on her backpack with her free hand. After nearly stumbling taking another step she was almost tempted to just dump everything she was carrying and just focus on getting Ranma safely set up in the cave. She did not relish going back there but at the moment the two of them had some rather limited options, and out of them returning to the cave seemed the best bet.

After several more minutes of heavy breathing Cassie began to recognize some things and realized that they were almost home free. Unsure as to how Ranma would react when they reentered the clearing before the cave to see her handy work Cassie asked, "Ranma...."

"huh...wha...." Ranma answered drunkenly,from near total exhaustion.

"Can you do me a favor...."

"Suuurrrreeee....." Ranma replied mid yawn.

"Close your eyes and keep them that way till I tell you to open them."

Ranma nodded slightly, "kay..."

Cassie frowned, there was something wrong, Ranma had become too agreeable after the outburst in the clearing. Knowing that there was nothing she could do about it at the moment Cassie sighed and said, "Just be careful and let me guide you... we're almost there."

Ranma nodded slightly causing her to feel a bit disorientated, she knew that there were a few things off about her at the moment but at the same time was finding it more and more difficult to care, so she just numbly followed Cassie's lead. Cassie slowly led Ranma into the clearing by the cave, keeping her eyes on the wall of rock rather than being forced to look at the shredded body that was still laying out in the open.

Reaching the entrance tot he cave Cassie fumbled for a minute with her pockets looking for the small flashlight that she had taken out of her backpack for the sole purpose of safely navigating the cave without tripping over anything. Being careful to keep the light pointed away from the general direction of her deceased attacker, she moved them both forward slowly, finding herself nearly having to carry Ranma as she seemed to be nearly dead on her feet.

Spotting Jacks travel pack Cassie briefly paused before continuing further back into the cave. She would come back for Jacks pack after she got Ranma re situated. Earlier when Jack had first brought them to the cave, he had gone in first to check things out to make sure that there were no bears or anything else already taking up residence in there. When he had returned he had only taken them about halfway into it as there was a slight bend after that where the cave continued for awhile before ending abruptly.

Following the bend of the cave Cassie began to scan the walls with her light, making sure that there was nothing or no one else there. Satisfied for the moment she maneuvered Ranma onto the ground and began to unload herself. " Quipping silently to herself, "Now I know what a pack mule feels like..." Cassie removed the two P90's from her shoulder, following them with her back pack.

Kneeling down she began to dig through her stuff, from the slight dampness seeping into her knees she realized why Jack had not led them all the way back here before. Not wanting to move Ranma again as well as more than a bit creeped out about being in the same area as a mutilated body, Cassie forced herself to endure. Taking out a rain poncho Jack had given her she spread it out on the ground, before moving Ranma on top of it. Trying to get the redhead as comfortable as possible she took out her last pair of sweatpants and rolled them up so that Ranma could use it as a pillow.

Realizing that she was out of spare warm clothes Cassie took a minute to adjust everything before grabbing a hold of one of the P90's and making her way to the midpoint of the cave to retrieve Jacks pack, hoping that there were some clothes in there.

12345654321

Jack entered the clearing cautiously, well aware of the fact that they had had no more run-ins with the NID since he and Teal'c had retrieved the collar. He was about to take another step when he spotted a body laying near the entrance of the cave. Ignoring the horrible twisting sensation in his stomach he signaled Teal'c to for them to sweep the area for traps.

With the area seemly secure at the moment Jack started walking towards the body with Teal'c following slowly behind him. Stopping just short of the body he let out a soft whistle. Turning to the large Jaffa he asked, "What do you think T? Hunter, NID??? Looks like he was mauled by a wild animal."

"Indeed..." Teal'c stated suspiciously why glancing into the tree line looking for any possible threats and adding, "There appears to be something we are not seeing..."

"It's... SHIT..." Jack swore as he made a dash into the cave, having just spotted small bloody hand print.

12345645421

Cassie froze in her tracks, her heart Racing as she looked towards the entrance and saw two large shapes charging in. Panicking and feeling the last of her nerves crumble apart, she began to fumble with readying the weapon for a moment before she was finally able to cock it. With her arms shaking like they were made out of Jelly Cassie squeezed the trigger sending a spray of wild lead everywhere while screaming frantically to be left alone.

Diving to the floor Jack cursed as he brought his arms forward to cover his head, he had been about to pull his side arm when he realized just whom was firing at him. Knowing that Teal'c had also made a dive for the floor Jack cried out, "For cry'in out loud... It's us Cassie... "

Cassie heard Jacks yell and immediately felt the weapon slip from her fingers as the realization of whom exactly she was firing at sunk in. Up until that point Cassie had been intent on staying strong, on showing how mature she could be, of holding herself together despite being totally freaked out. However with Jack and Teal'c resurfacing she felt the last walls holding herself together give in. Falling to her knees she started crying, it was just too much for her, she was just a kid.

Hearing the gunfire stop Jack slowly rose to his feet, wincing in pain from aggravating his wound for the hundredth time that day. Taking slow deliberate steps Jack approached the crumpled girl and calmly wrapped her in a hug, attempting to calm her down.

Cassie's mind was a whirl with the memories of the happenings since the last time she had seen Jack began to resurface. Latching onto the man like a life line she sobbed half hysterically, "I'm sorry.... just... Don't leave.... Please.... I'm sorry... "

Teal'c dusted himself off while he walked forward to pick up Cassie's discarded weapon, after sparing a quick glance to the cave's entrance he focused on the sights behind Cassie. Taking a few deliberate steps closer he knelt down, while pulling out his flashlight to inspect the mutilated corpse that had caught his attention. Frowning as he realized that whatever had done this had also been responsible for the body out front.

Teal'c had a lot of experience in tracking his enemies as he had served as a Jaffa for several decades. One thing he had learned was that not all things are as they seem. Knowing that whatever had killed those two men had obviously left Cassie and the girl alone. That meant that either Cassie and the girl had not been around at the time or that Cassie knew something about what had happened and O'Neill's suspected alien had something to do with it.

Sparing Colonel O'Neill another quick look Teal'c noted that Cassie was still too wound up to be of any help. After digging around in the mans pockets for any further information Teal'c rose to his feet and stepped away, Flashing his light quickly at O'Neill then back to the corpse he made a gesture with his Zat. Seeing the Colonel nod Teal'c took another few steps away and fired off his Zat three times causing the body to disappear.

Flashing his light back down to the cave's floor Teal'c started his way to the back of the cave. Coming around a slight bend he quickened his pace, shining the light down towards the body by his feet he knelt down, urgently calling out, "O'Neill back here..."

At first glance Teal'c knew that there was something wrong, the red haired girl was obviously wounded but it did not appear to be life threatening in itself as it was not very deep. Discounting most of the dried blood as not hers do to position and the fact that it looked more like it had been splattered on her, he then moved on to what had him concerned. The girl was shaking and sweating at the same time and very obviously not conscious.

Taking off his own borrowed pack he began rummaging through it looking for something to cover her up with. Hearing pounding feet coming up behind him and an exclamation of, "Ranma..." he turned and stated, "O'Neill, this girl is in need of medical attention."

1234564542

"Major Carter..."

Sam brought the mike in as she turned her attention from the mass of trees below and answered, "What is it?"

"Ma'am... Rivet Joint is reporting that they no longer have a solid fix on the tracking device..."

Sam frowned while the gears in her head started spinning, "Find someplace nearby the last known coordinates of the signal to land, we'll track them the rest of the way on foot. Notify the Rivet Joint to continue monitoring in case the signal reappears or changes location."

123454321

Several minutes later

123456545321

Jack cautiously walked towards the cave's entranceway to meet back up with Teal'c, having sent the former first prime up front to keep a look out.

Teal'c sensing Jacks approach asked, "How are Cassandra and the girl?"

Jack sighed heavily while leaning against the wall of the cave, "Physically... Cassie's fine... Ranma... She needs medical attention. Right now I have Cassie watching over..." Noting the raised Eyebrow Jack added, "Teal'c, Ranma needs medical attention... And I don't know how much more Cassie can take, I managed to get her calmed down before I left her with Ranma...." Releasing another heavy sigh Jack added, "Janet's going to kill me.."

"Indeed..."Teal'c supplied gravely. Causing Jack to roll his eyes and shoot back, "It was metaphorical Teal'c... I'm sure she really won't kill me... Probably just break out the big honkin needles every time I have to goto the infirmary."

Teal'c shook his head at his friends attempt at levity before stating, "I believe I heard the distinct sounds of a helicopter while you were tending to the girls."

Jack nodded briefly, "Well hopefully it's not the NID... That's all we need right now... Oh... That reminds me..." Reaching into his jacket pocket he continued, "Cassie had these for us." handing them over he then added, "Oh and this too..."

Teal'c took the two clips for his newly acquired P90 before tucking the Zat into the waist band of his pants.

"Sooo... Jack started conversationally, "That brings us to what? Two pistols with 3 and a half clips worth of ammo between us... five Zat's.... two P90's with five clips... and one shotgun." Giving the former first prime a cheeky grin he added, "All and all, I'd say we did pretty good... All things considered."

"O'Neill... Was it not Cassandra Frasier whom is directly responsible for acquiring more than half of our current munitions?" Teal'c asked with a slightly raised brow.

Waving off the Jaffa's point with a shrug Jack muttered, "Technicalities... Technicalities Teal'c."

1234554321

Jack had been leaning against the wall of the cave in an effort to take some of the weight off of his injured thigh when he caught sight of some movement coming from the tree line. Sparing Teal'c a quick glance he noted that the large man had seen it as well. Muttering darkly, "These guy's just won't give it a rest... Stupid NID..."

Ignoring Jack's whining Teal'c raised the P90 in his hands and prepared to fire.

1234567645321

Cassie sat there silently listening to Jack and Teal'c's voices in the distance. While she could not make out what they were saying it was rather soothing to just hear their voices at the moment. Looking down at the now bundled up redhead she debated on whether or not to join her inside the sleeping bag. She was tired, that much she knew, the day's events had taken its toll on her and she was feeling just a tad bit stressed at the moment.

Reaching over to her back pack Cassie grabbed a hold of the 'Zat' that Jack had returned to her after explaining how to use it, somehow it's mere presence was comforting, giving her a sense of control.

Looking down at Ranma she sighed noticing that the redhead had begun to toss and turn slightly in her sleep. Setting the Zat off to the side she began to readjust their positions, pulling Ranma close in the hopes that here mere presence would help the redhead rest. Now somewhat comfortable Cassie with Ranma using her as a partial pillow Cassie reached over and grabbed a hold of the Zat with one hand while possessively holding Ranma close with the other.

Several minutes later Cassie had been just about to drift off to sleep when she was jarred completely awake by the sounds of gunfire. Briefly panic began to swell at the thoughts of what could happen to them before she latched onto Jacks final instructions like a life line on what to do if they were attacked again.

12343556654321

"Sam do you hear that?" Daniel asked worriedly causing the other two members of their group to come to a complete stop.

"That's gunfire... It almost sounds like a P90..."

Having come to a complete stop and recognized the gunfire as well, Janet shook with rage. Her daughter was out there probably in the middle of a gunfight.

Sensing the other woman's distress Sam started talking rapidly into the radio before turning to Janet with, "Back up should be on the ground within five minutes..."

Janet looked at Sam incredulously before responding with, "You aren't suggesting that we sit here while my baby is out there getting shot at..."

Daniel shook his head and interjected, "Janet... Look we are all worried about Cassie but rushing in is not going to help... We don't even know what we're up against..."

Sam looked around the three of them for a minute considering her next course of action. Part of her realized that Daniel was right, that there were still too many unknowns for them to go into the situation blind and way under armed. On the other hand though she knew that Janet was right too. If they stood around and did nothing then they might arrive too late to make a difference. Making up her mind she gave off one last set of orders into the radio before she pulled out her side arm and said, "We are going to close in on the gun fire and try to get a feel for the situation... If we can support the Colonel then we will, if not then we will have to wait for back up."

Daniel reluctantly nodded, he was just as worried as they were but at the same time he knew that they would be at a serous disadvantage only having their side arms as weapons.

12345654321

Having run out of Ammunition for it Jack tossed the P90 aside and pulled out his side arm. Glancing over at Teal'c he noted that the former first prime had already moved on to using the shot gun. Pulling out his Zat with his other hand Jack considered retreating further back into the cave but shook that off as he had no desire to put Cassie and Ranma back into danger.

"O'Neill get down..."

Jack lunged to the side barely in time to escape from being hit with multiple Zat blasts. Scurrying to his feet seconds later he pulled out one of his Zats and said, "We can't hold out like this much longer..."

Teal'c nodded while discarding the shotgun and pulling out a pistol and a Zat. After sending out multiple shots at an agent whom had been using the cliff side to sneak up on them he replied, "Would it not be wise to withdrawal further back into the cave?"

Jack examined the situation before him, he knew that it was only a matter of time until they were over run not that they were down to just Zats and small arms. As much as he didn't like it there was really no other option, if they fell back into the cave then they could take up better positions and wait for the NID to enter the cave. At least that way the NID agents would be forcibly pressed together without much in the way of shelter, making it easier to take them down. Having reached his decision Jack nodded and ordered, "Teal'c, you go first... Make sure you get Cassie and Ranma tucked away, I'll hold them off as best I can."

Teal'c started to reluctantly withdraw only to pause momentarily when O'Neill called back to him, "Oh and T... Cassie has a Zat."

1234567645421

Cassie had been busy, the moment she had come back to her senses after the gunfire started she began to follow Jacks orders. First she pulled Ranma further back into the cave behind a rock pile that Jack had gathered up before he went to join Teal'c. With Ranma carefully stashed away she then began her next task which was to move all their equipment behind the small barrier.

Setting the last bag in place Cassie knelt down and took out her Zat, pointing it shakily towards the bend of the cave, listening intently for an idea of how the battle was going.

12345654321

"Four... Three... Two... One..." Jack finished counting down from one hundred. Deciding that Teal'c should have had plenty of time to make sure that everyone else was safe and sound... "_Well as safe as they can be with a half dozen or so NID agents trying to bust there way in."_ Jack mentally amended.

Jack tucked his side arm into the small of his back and withdrew his second Zat. Taking two steps backwards he began to fire randomly out of the cave, falling further back with each step.

1234554321

Teal'c paused after rounding the bend in the cave, noticing right away that Cassie had tensed up with a Zat in her hand. Since Jaffa are not known to offer nervous smiles he greeted, "Cassandra..."

Cassie lowered her weapon and sighed, after taking in several deep breaths she responded nervously, "Is everything alright Teal'c."

"All is well Cassandra Frasier..." Teal'c supplied not wanting to alarm the girl anymore than what was necessary.

Cassie snorted, she knew better if Teal'c was back with her and Jack was still up front that things were getting worse.

Hearing footsteps coming towards him Teal'c peered around the corner, bringing his Zat out in the process. Seeing O'Neill he relaxed his aim, holding his fire until the Colonel was out of his line of fire.

Jack spun around having managed to get halfway to the bend in the cave. Biting down on his lip he began to run forward, aware that the mouth of the cave would be swarming with the NID any moment.

Teal'c took aim as Jack started running towards him noticing that three NID agents had just made their way into the cave. Seeing that they had spotted the Colonel and were about to take him down, he left the confines of his cover and stepping into the center of the cave firing both Zats rapidly in the hopes to buy O'Neill more time to make it to them.

Jack knew that he wasn't going to make in time the moment he saw Teal'c leave his position. Diving downward he tried one last minute desperate maneuver spinning his body around mid dive and simultaneously bringing both Zats to bear. Turning back around he tried to make a quick scramble to the relative safety of the cave's bend but felt the painful sensation of a zat blast hitting him dead on before he had even managed to make it to his knees.

Teal'c made a move forward in an attempt to drag the Colonel to safety, discarding one of his Zats as he did so. Unfortunately he had hardly taken a step when another Zat blast took him down.

"TEAL'C!!!!" Cassie screamed as the big man went down. Frantically Cassie scrambled to her feet knowing that things had just gone from bad to worse. Stilling her shaky hand Cassie strode forward muttering, "I was supposed to be having a fun time with Jack and Teal'c... We were going to go fishing... Go have fun... Well I have news for you... This is not fun... I am not having fun... I have been... Hunted... Accosted... scared out of my mind... And I am starting to get cramps..." Raising her voice as she turned the corner she began firing her Zat while shouting, "I AM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THIS CRAP RIGHT NOW..."

Her rant finished Cassie blinked having not expected to make it more than a few steps looking around in wonder she noticed that the cave had become silent and that there were three NID agents laying unconscious in the dirt. Unsure as to what was happening she nervously called out, "Uhm... Hello???"

Noticing a shadow cross over the cave's entrance Cassie raised her Zat back up and stuttered, "Stay back... I'll shoot..."

"Cassie..."

Blinking Cassie brightened with hope and softly asked, "Mom... Mom is that you?"

123435566543

Thanks for reading.

Notes.

1

**RC-135V/W Rivet Joint**

The RC-135V/W sensor suite allows the mission crew to detect, identify and signals throughout the . The mission crew can then forward gathered information in a variety of formats to a wide range of consumers via Rivet Joint's extensive communications suite. The interior seats 34 people, including the cockpit crew, officers, intelligence operators and airborne systems engineers. All Rivet Joint and mission systems modifications are performed by in , under the oversight of the .

All RC-135s are assigned to Air Combat Command. The RC-135 is permanently based at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., and operated by the 55th Wing, using various forward deployment locations worldwide. Under the "BIG SAFARI" program name, RC-135Vs were upgraded from the RC-135C "Big Team" configuration, itself a mission modified **RC-135B** (the first version delivered). The difference between the original and upgraded RC-135Vs and Ws is the different engines used.


	6. Chapter 5

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter but I hit a few stumbling blocks that took awhile to hurdle over.

Also I would like to thank James Axelrad for his persistence, pataince and assistance with this fic. I also would like tot hank those at the Fanfiction forum and nysk for their help and suggestions.

Half assed disclaimer, I don't own either series portrayed in this fic.

One last thing, you might want to get comfortable, this is my longest chapter yet as I was originally going to divide it into three parts before I decided to just treat you all with it in it's entirety.

Short summery, Ranma starts to recover while something from Cassie's past comes back to haunt the SGC

1234321

After placing the car into park Janet looked over to her companion and sighed wearily at the sleeping girl. They both had been sleeping when the phone call had come in, apparently Dr. Warner had decided to wake Ranma from the medically induced coma that the teen had been in for a little over a week in order to flush the drugs out of his system while reducing the chances of a extremely painful, possibly fatal withdraw. Janet had been expecting that as she had signed off on the idea after finding out that Ranma had some sort of device attached to his skull. According to the information on the USB drive the device was similar to one of those Tok'ra memory recall devices. She had wanted to wait until Ranma was woken out of the coma to remove the device and had set up a surgery time in two days Unfortunately the device had become active some time that night and Doctor Warner had decided to take Ranma out of the coma and sedate him for the surgery to remove the device.

Unfortunately though Doctor Warner had not taken the medical records on the USB drive at face value as such the lack of potency of the sedatives had caused Ranma to awaken while they were in the process of removing the device. Now they had a panicking meta-human flipping out in the SGC. Janet had then been asked to bring Cassie in to see if the Ranma's familiarity with the girl could calm her down without having to resort to force, which according to the physiological profile that Doctor McKenzie had worked up would be a very bad mistake as it could possibly push the teen over the edge.

Reaching her arm out she began to gently but reluctantly shake her daughter awake. She did not want to bring her daughter into the current mess at the SGC, figuring that she had suffered more than enough in the little over a week since the debacle at the cabin. It had been both frustrating and distressing to watch as her daughter pushed everyone away from her while not talking about what had happened. Sure Teal'c had mentioned his suspicions but there was nothing that could be done to confirm anything until either Ranma awoke and confirmed his suspicions or Cassandra opened up.

Cassie cracked her eyes open slowly half expecting herself to be back in the cave with some sick freak trying to have his way with her.

Janet took on a look of immediate concern when she noticed Cassie's fearful expression change into one of relief. Raising her hand up to stroke the side of her daughters face she motherly asked, "Are you alright sweetie?"

Cassie adverted her eyes in shame feeling that she didn't deserve to have Janet care about her so much after all she had been placing her adopted mother through. Weakly she offered back, "I'm fine mom… Just tired…"

Biting her tongue in a combination of frustration and worry for her daughter Janet let the obvious lie go and stated softly, "We're there."

It took a moment for what her mother had said to fully register, once it did Cassie brightened somewhat shyly and asked, "You're going to let me see Ranma?"

Janet nodded slowly but reminded the girl, "Remember what I told you though…"

Cassie nodded, her mother explained to her what had happened and the circumstances involving Ranma's current state. Even armed with that information though the teen was just glad that she would finally be able to see Ranma as the other teen had been kept in isolation while under observation in the coma.

Slipping out the keys from the ignition and setting a hand on the door handle Janet reiterated, "Remember, Ranma's probably fairly spooked right now so I want you to be careful, if it looks like there might be trouble then I want you to get out of the way and let security handle things."

"Okay mom…." Cassie responded meekly.

123454321

Jack stepped out of his truck, having just gotten it back from the shop and glanced around before stuffing his keys in his pocket and shutting the door. Recognizing the two females nearing the mouth of the complex Jack hesitantly picked up his pace, torn between wanting to catch up with them and giving them their distance. The reason behind his hesitant pace was that he was unsure of where he stood with the two women after all that had happened, having not seen Janet since she put him on medical leave to recover from being shot in his thigh. Sure Daniel, Carter and Teal'c had been by his house and told him that Janet was not holding a grudge over the whole affair but Jack could not help but feel guilty over the whole debacle. It had been his call, he was the one who should have known better and because of his poor judgment two girls had gotten hurt. Sure Cassie did not seem to have any apparent physical wounds but he and Teal'c had their suspicions, especially after some of the things that Carter had mentioned that where on the disk given to Janet as well with what they had seen at the scene.

Faltering in mid step he firmed his resolve; he cared about Cassie too much and needed to try to make amends or at least find out for himself where he stood with the two.

123454321

Janet slowed her pace slightly, knowing full well who was coming up behind them, Giving her daughter's intertwined hand a squeeze she asked softly, "Do you want to talk to Colonel O'Neill?" Truthfully she was holding no real ill will towards the Colonel, he had done his best in a difficult situation and knew enough from both Sam and Daniel to know that the past week had been nearly as difficult on his conscience as what it had been on herself and Cassie.

Cassie nodded fearfully as she pulled herself closer to her adopted mother, half afraid of what her uncle Jack was going to say to her. Sure she knew the man had cared about her deeply but she had not seen him in the week since being released from the SGC and was full of doubts as to whether the man cared for her at all anymore, especially after all of the trouble she caused.

Leading Cassie to a stop just before the first check point, Janet turned while extracting her hand from her daughter in order to pull the troubled girl into a semi protective embrace.

Following Janet and Cassie off to the side Jack strolled to a stop and thrust his hands into his pockets, regarding the two with a thoughtful expression. Even with the dim lighting Jack could plainly see that the two of them hadn't been sleeping well as evidenced by the large bags under their eyes. Chastising himself for his own screw-up Jack tried to greet them pleasantly, unfortunately it came out awkward at best as he said, "Doctor… Cassie…."

Janet nodded not really hearing the subdued mumble that Cassie uttered and said, "Why don't we talk in the elevator while we're going down… That way at least we'll have a bit of privacy…" Janet added after motioning with her head at the two MP's at the sign in desk.

"Okay…" Jack drawled motioning with his arm and adding, "After you then."

123454321

Jack leaned his back into the side of the elevator as he watched the doors close before turning his attention to Cassie whom was somewhat hiding behind her mother. Sighing at his guilt Jack started, "I'm sorry… I should have never left you alone…"

"It's okay…" Cassie mumbled with her eyes actively avoiding Jack's.

"No it's not," Jack reinforced, "I made a mistake and something bad happened … Teal'c is a big guy and could have probably taken care of himself… You and Ranma though… Your both kids and I shouldn't have left you two alone out there."

"You didn't visit…" Cassie muttered meekly, still not wanting to look Jack in the eyes she added with a slight stutter, "I thought that… that you were mad at me or something"

Shaking his head at his own stupidity at having ignored the teen Jack removed himself from the side of the elevator and took a small step forward while softly asking, "Come here for a sec would ya."

Knowing that her daughters hesitation at moving towards Jack was more of a fear of being rejected than fear of the man in general Janet chose to give her a bit of help by extracting her daughter from her and guiding her forward.

Jack wrapped his arms around the girl bringing her into a tight embrace, shoving aside his own awkwardness he softly cooed, "I was never mad at you… I… Err…" after emitting a deep sigh he started anew with, "I'm sorry I should have visited to see how you were doing…"

123454321

Daniel stood at the elevator doors, that marked the halfway point to the SGC on orders from General Hammond for either Jack or Janet to arrive to brief them more thoroughly while simultaneously attempting to come up with an excuse for him not going home for the night. Briefly he considered saying that he just beat them there but he threw that excuse aside knowing that Jack knew exactly how long it took for him to get there. Hearing the elevator ding signaling its arrival on the floor he took a step back to allow its occupants more than enough room to exit.

He was mildly surprised though when the door slid open to reveal all three persons that he was waiting for. Noting that two of them seemed to be embracing he grinned ruefully, glad that Jack had used some of his common sense and finally spoken to Cassie. According to Janet the teen had been having some real problems coping with what had happened, problems that Jack could have lessened if he had not been being so dammed stubborn and just went over and talked to the girl.

Realizing that no one was coming out of the elevator he cleared his throat.

123454321

Choosing to ignore Daniel for the moment Jack tightened his hold on Cassie, making sure that she had a chance to compose herself a bit before he withdrew away from her. Once he noted that she had stopped crying he pulled away slightly to ask, "Are you sure you're up for this kiddo?"

Cassie nodded sharply as she fished around in her pockets for something to blow her nose with. Janet knowing what the girl was looking for reached into her purse and pulled out a travel packet of tissues. Offering them to her daughter she said, "Here you go Cassie."

"Thanks mom…" Cassie stated taking the offered items.

With Cassie taken care of Jack turned his attention to the moment at hand, shooting Daniel a look he observed, "You're here early."

Knowing that he had been busted Daniel just shrugged and replied, "Actually I never left." Noticing Jacks gaze intensify for a moment he added in his defense, "What? I have a lot of back logged projects to work on…"

Jack shook his head at his teammate's actions knowing that when he wasn't around both Daniel and Carter had a tendency to get too involved in their work causing them to 'forget' to go home to rest. Guiding the now composed Cassie out of the elevator with him he asked, "So what's going on, Harriman told me a little but seeing as you're here then…"

Daniel nodded and waited to start talking until after they had cleared the final check point and were inside the elevator that would take them the rest of the way to the SGC.

12345654332

"GET AWAY FROM ME…"

/CRASH/

/Oomph/

Not wanting to further agitate the seemly slip of a girl any further Teal'c peered cautiously around the corner, his eye's darting quickly over to the two downed SF's that had just been on the receiving end of a thrown gurney. He wasn't sure on what was going on but to him it almost seemed that his mere presence was agitating the girl. Locking his gaze on the redhead he tried to convey to her that he was not going to hurt her but was forced to jerk back around the corner as a clean bedpan smashed into the doorframe inches away from his head.

Turning to his blond teammate he dryly stated, "It would appear that she is not in the mood to talk at the moment."

Sam bit off the sarcastic comment of, 'you think' before it even had a chance to leave her lips; sarcastic replays were the colonel's area after all. Instead she turned her gaze down the hall following the path of destruction coming from the operating theater to their present location. Hearing the rhythmic sound of boots walking in step Sam peered past Teal'c and saw Feretti leading SG2 her way. Stepping out from against the wall but mindful to not break the plane of the doorway Sam held up her hand to stall their advance, knowing full well that more man power would most likely cause the situation to worsen. Calling out to her fellow Major with, "We need to stay back and not risk antagonizing her any further, Dr. Warner said that he didn't have a chance to remove the device. Hopefully Colonel O'Neill will be able to calm her down enough for when Janet arrives with Cassie." If Jack couldn't though then they would have to look into other options as there was no way she was going to let Cassie in there with how Ranma was acting at the moment.

Motioning for SG2 to remain where they were Feretti took a few more steps and explained, "I picked up a few zats from the armory, figured if everything continued to snowball south we could use them to take her down."

Sam nodded just as a series of unfamiliar words came from the room that contained the cornered redhead. Only recognizing Cassie's name out of the entire tirade She glanced back at Feretti and asked, "Don't suppose you speak Japanese Feretti?""

Shaking his head negatively he peered into the room and asked, "What are we going to do about the two SF's in there, don't think that it would be wise to leave them in there as they are."

"I do not believe that they will be further harmed as long as they do not try to approach the girl." Teal'c stated before he peered around the corner once more and added, "However I believe that now would be the best time to retrieve them as it appears that Ranma has taken refuge inside Doctor Frasier's office."

123454321

Ranma moved the last piece of her impromptu barricade into place just as her mind was once more assaulted with horrific images of random death and destruction. Collapsing to her knee's with a whimper she pleaded in her native tongue, (Get out of my head… Get out… Get out….)

Ranma clutched her head tightly, rocking back and forth in distress. she was confused, scared, and was having a hard time coping with the sinister images flashing through her mind. She knew that the images that she was seeing where the same ones that she would dream about when sleeping and have right before she would fall prey to the Neko Ken but at the same time it was different. They seemed less potent than what they had been before. What Ranma did not know though was that there was a very good reason for them to seem that way as she was no longer being pumped full of hallucinogens.

Still just because they were less potent seeming did not mean that they were not affecting her. Just the visions themselves were enough to drive Ranma to feel an utmost urgent need to put as much space between normal people and herself, lest she lose control again and begin to slaughter people just as she had at the cave.

Feeling a warm liquid trickle down her face Ranma was instantly reminded of what had been going on when she had awaken inside what she assumed to be some sort of operating room. She had been jarred awake by a muted feeling of someone cutting into her scalp and had only moments of semi conscious clarity before the visions started. Whimpering once more as her mind was assaulted with powerful images of glowing eyes and gruesome death scenes Ranma curled up into a ball, thrashing across the floor of her refuge waiting in hopes that her torment would end soon.

It was like a loop, Ranma knew, the images would assault her and then taper off, reoccurring every few minutes. So as the final image in the loop came to a halt Ranma blearily opened her eyes, trying to focus on something other than what she was being put through. For several moments though it was all she could do to just lay there and try to focus on the world around her.

Blankly she stared across the floor, until the pooling blood from the incision in her scalp reminded her once again shakily she reached up with one of her hands and began to lightly touch the wound. Feeling a foreign mass she began to hyperventilate in disbelief while muttering, "No no nonononono… I'm dreaming… yeah this is some sot of nightmare… I just need to wake up… Yeah that's it… Just need to pinch myself…. That's all…"

123454321

Jack slackened his stride slightly as he rounded the corner and spotted SG2, Feretti, Teal'c and Carter standing nearby two downed soldiers, Taking a quick glance around at the mayhem and destruction in the hall he decided to let out a low whistle in appreciation to alert the group to his arrival.

Janet slowed to a stop taking Cassie with her just as she rounded the corner, pulling the teen tight she firmly stated, "This is as far as you can go until the Colonel say's otherwise." Biting her lip in worry she turned to Daniel and asked, "Could you stay with Cassie so I can go check on the wounded."

"Uhm… Sure, no problem." Daniel said as he clasped a hand down on the girls shoulder, "We'll be right here."

After shooting Daniel a grateful nod she turned back to her daughter and asked, "Is that okay with you Cassandra? Staying here with Daniel, I won't be far away if you need me… Okay?"

Cassie nodded almost reluctantly, not because she didn't trust Daniel enough to be alone with her but rather she just really needed to see Ranma.

Giving her daughter one last hug Janet added, "Don't worry dear, everything will be okay. I'll be right around the corner."

Cassie blushed deeply at her mothers concern, part of her not wanting to believe that it was real while the rest of her relished of the thought of her adopted mother caring so much for her, especially after considering how poorly she had treated the woman just a week and a half ago.

As Janet walked away to check up on the two downed soldiers and get a better read on the situation Daniel placed his hand on Cassie's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

123454321

"And now it seems that she has locked herself inside of Dr. Frasier's office." Janet heard Sam finish just as she approached the group. Taking a knee next to one of the downed airmen she asked, "Any casualties?"

Shaking her head negatively Sam supplied, "Not really, Doctor Warner and his team are a bit shook up but other than that just minor scrapes and bruises… I don't think she was actively trying to hurt anyone."

"She threw a gurney at two airmen." Feretti interjected as he glanced around to take note of all the damage, specifically at a section of wall that the redhead had nearly shattered with one punch.

Tracking Feretti's gaze Sam added, "That's my point… If she can do things like nearly pulverize a wall in one blow then imagine what she would do to somebody if she wasn't holding back.

Thinking back to the two bodies at the cave Jack found himself agreeing with Carter and said, "We can sort out the rest of this later, I'm going to go try and talk to her before this situation gets anymore out of hand."

"Colonel… You might want to take one of these." Feretti said while holding out a Zat.

Shaking his head Jack replied, "Let's keep that as a last resort. Shall we?"

123454321

Ranma squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to force the assaulting images from her mind while clenching her fists in agony, banging the back of her head into the corner of the room that she had sought refuge in.

123454321

Sam frowned in worry as she took her eyes off of the retreating Colonel's back, even if Ranma was not going full out in her attacks as evidenced on the sessions taken from the USB drive there was still a chance for the Colonel to get seriously hurt. In the back of her mind gears began to shift, she knew that there had to be some reason as to why the device had gone active, Ranma had been in the isolation room and in a coma for eight days before it went active. Turning to Janet who had moved on to the second Airman she asked, "Janet… Did Doctor Warner mention anything about why the device went active, was he running any tests or did something to set it off?"

Janet looked up for a second and replied, "No, he just said that the nurse noticed an increase in brainwave activity when she came in to check up on her."

Feretti fully aware of Major Carter's ability to pull rabbits out of her hat stepped back from where he was watching Colonel O'Neill and asked, "What are you thinking?"

Shaking her head to chastise herself she stated, "I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier."

"Think of what?" Janet asked while tending to one of the downed airmen.

"Well… from what we know about the devices is that even though they can work by themselves to retrieve memories they have to be activated with a second device to implant memories. We also know that it can be worn for extended periods of time but once it is activated there is always a small variation in brainwave activity."

Nodding grimly in understanding Feretti replied, "So what you're saying is that someone here had to have activated the device… Meaning that we have a NID plant somewhere on the base."

"Right." Sam confirmed as she continued, "If we can find the mole then we might be able to find the device to turn the implant off…" Staring down the hall with a thoughtful look on her face she added, "But I might be able to turn it off without it… I need to go get a few things from my lab."

123454321

"Ranma can you hear me? It's me Jack… from the cave?" Jack called from the outside of doctor Frasier's office, while trying to peer through the mostly obstructed window.

Not hearing anything but unintelligible whimpering Jack knocked on the glass and tried to sound as non threatening as possible as he said, "I know you're confused right now but I just want to talk." Not hearing a response Jack stated with a sigh while he stepped in front of the door, "Ranma… I'm coming in…"

Jack tested the doorknob, giving it an experimental jiggle and after finding it to be unlocked tried to push it open but was unable to budge it. He was about to place his shoulder on the door and call out, "You know you could unblock the door for me…" then he realized that Janet's office door swung outward and not inward. Glancing over his shoulder he noticed Teal'c still standing slightly out of sight in the doorway with a amused expression on his face. Rolling his own eyes at the Jaffa he took a step back and swung the door open only to reveal a cluster of half hazardly stacked furniture blocking his path.

Hearing whimpering and a rhythmic thudding sound Jack began to attempt to push his way through the impromptu blockade, wincing at the sound of breaking glass that immediately followed the upper portion of the barrier gave way. Taking a step back he briefly debated calling over to Teal'c for a hand in pushing this stuff out of the way but shook it off as he did not want to agitate Ranma any more than he had to.

123454321

Sam rushed into her lab and immediately began to search through her stash of, what the Colonel called, various thingamabobs and doohickeys, looking for the miniature Zatark detector that the Tok'ra had helped them design after the Goa'uld had tried to assassinate the president using Martuf. Not finding it on any of her shelves she stopped in the middle of the room and gave the room a once over, concentrating on where she had it last. "Of course… The desk…" She muttered as she realized that she must have locked it up in one of her drawers. After fishing the key out of her pocket she moved over to the desk and began rifling through all her locked drawers before finding both components stuffed all the way back in the bottom drawer.

After stuffing them into her pocket she grabbed a hold of her Laptop so she could interface with the device and made her way out of her office at a full run, heading back to the elevators to take her to Janet's office.

123454321

Jack pushed his way into the room, finally having made a big enough opening to squeeze through while softly calling out, "Ranma, It's just me… Jack… I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to talk…"

Realizing that she was no longer alone in the room Ranma's head jerked up as the fact that Jack was there registered fully in her mind for the first time. Sure she had heard him knocking and calling out to her but with all of the images assaulting her mind she had played it off as a mental trick. For a moment her face softened as she softly exclaimed, "Jack… He's here…" Then though the fear ridden part of her mind took back control and she shrieked, "NO… DON'T COME ANY CLOSER… I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU…"

Cringing at the high pitched screech, Jack took a brief moment to get his bearings before turning his attention back to the room where he winced again, this time over the mess of broken equipment and scattered papers now cluttering the once neat and orderly office. Turning his attention to the huddled up redhead in the corned he immediately adverted his eyes at the site of her tattered and torn gown. Jack tried to talk in the most soothing voice he could muster while sliding off his jacket to offer it to the girl, "Ranma… you need to try to calm down… I know you're confused but no one here is going to hurt you… We just want to help you…"

"Help me???" Ranma questioned softly to herself in near disbelief.

Taking a knee and reaching out to cover the girl with his jacket Jack continued, "Yeah… Help you. There's a device implanted in your head… We need to remove it.."

Reaching one of her hands she idly began to trace her index finger along the still open incision and weakly asked, "Remove it?"

Jack merely nodded in response, slightly uncomfortable in the situation and waited to see what Ranma would do next.

Ranma was torn, not really sure on what to do or even who to trust. Even in her confused state she was fairly positive that she was not at the lab, but at the same time where she was seemed fairly similar, having the same sterile feel and smell to it that the lab had had. Also, while she was glad to see at least one person she recognized she was still uncertain on whether or not she could trust him. She had after all trusted the people from the lab and thanks to that Cassie and her had almost been… Shuddering at the mere thought of what might have been Ranma began to feel a little more confident as she thought, "_Could Cassie be here??? Jack is here… " _

123454321

Sam spared Cassie and Daniel a glance as she rushed by them for the second time as she made her way into the infirmary to set up her equipment. Turning the corner she noticed that the two previously downed airmen were now standing in the hall armed with Zats while Teal'c stood in the doorway watching for any sign of complications from Janet's office. Slowing down to a crisp walk She asked, "Teal'c… Any word from the Colonel yet?"

"No… O'Neill has not yet left Doctor Frasier's office."

Nodding more to herself than to the tall Jaffa Sam continued, "Could you pick up that Gurney for me… My hands are rather full at the moment."

While keeping his eye's on Janet's office door Teal'c made his way to the fallen gurney and righted it, allowing Sam to set down the equipment she was carrying. Once she was done and waiting for her computer to boot up he asked, "What do you intend to do?"

"Basically," Sam started, "I'm assuming that the device had to be activated from within the SGC… So that means that there had to have been a signal to set it off as Ranma was monitored in the isolation room. So what I'm doing is using the Mini Zatark detector that the Tok'ra helped us design to seek out the frequency that the implant is using. Once it does that, the device should activate to link up with the Zatark detector giving us not only the correct frequency and means to turn it off but also give us a look at what the device is actually doing. If it is doing what I think it's doing then my laptop should be able to record the images it's forcing upon Ranma's mind."

"I see.." Teal'c stated simply as he took a step back to allow Major Carter more room to work.

123454321

"What happened to Cassie?" Ranma asked quietly in between deep breaths in an attempt to keep herself under control, not knowing how much time she had before her mind was assaulted again.

Jack frowned slightly and replied vaguely, "Well… She's… Physically okay. Now that you're awake though I imagine that she'll start to feel a little better." Looking around at the walls Jack continued, " Actually we're in her mom's office right now." Seeing what he had been looking for on the floor in a broken frame rather than hanging up on the wall he reached over and picked it up shaking the broken glass from it as he said, "Here… Look for yourself."

Taking the picture in her shaking hands Ranma looked down at the picture in hope. Wanting to believe that if the picture was real then she could trust these people because Cassie knew them.

"She's here now. Waiting to see you actually." Jack said when he realized that he was getting through to the small redhead. "But before you see her you really should let us remove the device in your head. We don't want Cassie to get hurt accidentally now do we." Jack finished guiltily not liking his own manipulations of the kids feelings, but at the same time recognizing the need for Ranma to be stable before she had any prolonged contact with anyone.

Nodding her head in agreement Ranma was caught off guard as the device activated again, sending horrific images of torture and murder through her mind. Due to being caught when her guard was down her reaction was much like it had been when she had immediately woken up in the operating theater, except that now the anesthetic had worn off completely resulting in a far more violent reaction.

Jack seeing the girl starting to spasm out of control as her hands gripped the sides of her head again lunged forward in the hopes of keeping her from hurting herself any further.

Fully immersed into her hallucination Ranma reacted without thought and flung her arms forward as red energy started to flow forth from her hands.

Jack watched the approaching hands wide-eyed unable to dodge the attack due to its sheer amount of speed, as it was he had barely enough time to exclaim, "Oohh Sh…"

Jacks words cut through the panicked haze of Ranma's minds like a knife as she realized what she was about to do. Asserting control of her own arms she pulled the brakes, stopping herself just millimeters away from hitting Jack right in the chest. Paling at the realization the she had almost just impaled someone who was trying to help her Ranma unsteadily jumped to her feet, banging against the wall in the process.

Jack, having fallen backwards in the hopes of being fast enough to avoid the blow, sat there blinking for a movement before he noticed what Ranma was doing. Standing back up he tried, "Ranma stay with me…" Seeing the teens agitation increase Jack repeated himself more firmly, "Ranma… You need to stay with me here."

Ranma gripped her head and screamed as she witnessed one of the more vicious visions. Looking around wildly and not seeing a direct way out Ranma launched herself into the bookcase that she had piled up in front of the large window in the doctors office.

1234543431

Sam's hands were flying over her keyboard as she attempted to get a lock on the device implanted in Ranma. She had hoped that it would automatically lock onto the implant when she loaded the device's driver into her computer, unfortunately there was too much electronic equipment in the infirmary that was interfering with the device's ability to interface with the implant. She knew that most of the issue could be solved if she could get within a few feet of Ranma but she was not willing to risk agitating the teen any further with the Colonel within arms reach.

Hearing the noise level in Janet's office begin to escalade Sam doubled her efforts.. Shaking her head in frustration she called out, "Teal'c, it's no use I need to get closer."

Readying his Zat Teal'c nodded and began to push the gurney closer to the office door with Sam keeping pace while she worked. Growling internally as the linkup failed again Sam stated, "It's no use I'm still to far away, for this to work I'm going to have to get in there right in front of her."

"How much time do you need." Teal'c asked stoically.

"If I reset it and can get into range it shouldn't take more than a few seconds." Sam answered as she began to recycle through the devices protocols.

"Very well." Teal'c replied while making a move towards the door to start moving away the blockage preventing easy assess to the room. Just as he was about to swing the door open a loud crash that was directly followed by the sound of shattering glass resonated throughout the room.

Once she realized that the red haired teen had been the one whom had exited the room via the window and not the Colonel, Sam wasted no time and typed in the commands to link up and deactivate the implant.

1234543212

Ranma hit the ground hard and for a moment laid there relishing the physical pain from the fall as a means to distract her own mind away from the disturbing images that were overlapping her vision. Unfortunately the pain was only fleeting at best, thanks to her increased physical abilities and had passed almost as quickly as it had come leaving her aware of the two presences in the room with her. Opening her eyes for just a second had been more than enough time for her to recognize the two people, One she knew was the large man that made her feel uneasy as if there was something about him that she was supposed to notice, the other was the blond woman that had tried to calm her down before.

Not wanting to risk hurting anyone she scrambled to her feet, swaying unsteadily as she realized that throwing herself through a window had taken a bit more out of her than what she realized. Letting out a horrified scream as a particularly set of grotesque images overlapped her vision she made a dash for the doorway, hoping to put as much distance between the people and herself. She hadn't taken more than two steps though when the vision was cut off causing her to stagger in mid-step and crash back down into the floor.

Not knowing what was going on other than the vision ending prematurely, Ranma felt completely overwhelmed not knowing when and if the images were going to reassert themselves or if someone was just playing a sick cruel joke on her, trying to get her hopes up before shattering them with something even more gruesome. Tears started running down her face as she rolled onto her back wishing that her ordeal would just end, she couldn't take any more of it, it was just too much.

Sam's heart went out to the girl as she tore her eyes away from her laptops screen where the last image Ranma had seen was depicted. She had been about to take a step forward and try to comfort the girl, assure her that it was over for now, when Teal'c placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Wait… Let O'Neill handle this, your presence might only serve to agitate her once more."

123454321

Jack pushed the broken remains of the bookshelf to the side and climbed out of the room via the window, figuring that was a lot easier then trying to squeeze his way through the partially blocked door. Catching both Carter and Teal'c standing nearby and Ranma flat on her back crying he shot his two teammates a silent question.

"I was able to turn the implant off." Sam said while she watched the Colonel approach Ranma, take a knee and drape his jacket over her.

Nodding in relief Jack turned his gaze downward and said, "Ranma, I'm going to call over a friend of mine. Her name's Janet Frasier, she's Cassie's mom and a doctor. I need you to let her examine you to make sure that you're alright."

Ranma nodded weakly, she had heard the blond woman say that she had turned the implant off and felt relieved to be out of its grasp.

"Good… " Jack replied staring down at the distraught teen girl in concern while keeping his anger over her ordeal in check. Not because he was afraid to let his team see him get righteously pissed, no they had seen that side of him often enough when he felt that someone was taking advantage of a child to further their own agenda. What he was afraid of though was letting Ranma see how royally ticked off he was as it would most likely only serve to confuse and alienate the teen further. So he bit down on his burning rage and forced himself to smile warmly down at the current girl.

Janet gave Sam a quick glance to make sure that everything was alright and the device was not going to reactivate anytime soon. Unfortunately Janet noticed that Sam seemed to be rather preoccupied at the moment with watching the Colonel. Janet couldn't fault her friend for it though, Jack O'Neill just had a knack for interacting with kids. However just because she couldn't fault her friend did not mean that she was going to assume that everything was alright. Clearing her throat slightly she asked, "Sam?"

"Oh, Right…" Sam blushed having been caught staring. Looking down at her laptops screen she said, "It's off for the moment. I've managed to link up to the device so even if it were to activate again I would be able to shut it down right away."

"Okay. " Janet said while slowly approaching the Colonel and Ranma. Once she was close enough she took a knee opposite of Colonel O'Neill and said, "Hi Ranma, I'm Cassandra's mother but you can call me Janet." Glancing across to the Colonel she continued, "Like Jack said, I'm a doctor. I just want to take a quick look at you to make sure that you don't have any serous injuries. Is that okay?"

Ranma looked over to Jack before shutting her eyes and nervously stuttering, "Jack said you could remove…"

"I can." Janet intervened, "but to do that I'm going to have to sedate you."

Tensing up Ranma started to shake her head, she did not want to risk being unconscious again as every time she came to it seemed like there was something horrible happening.

Clasping one of his hands down on Ranma's shoulder Jack tried to clam her down, "Nothing's going to happen if you don't want it too. We are not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do…" Giving Janet a quick look he added, "Right doc?"

Janet nodded and replied, "I suppose I could just numb the area, but we'll have to tie you down to make sure you don't move around."

Ranma laid there silently considering her options before asking quietly, "Then can I see Cassie?"

Janet looked up at Jack for a moment while she considered her answer. She was confident in Sam's ability to keep the implant turned off and gauging the Colonel's appearance he didn't look roughed up in the least. Still though she was feeling reluctant to guarantee anything until she looked down into the girls face. The silent pleading look combined with her knowledge of her daughters desire to see the teen gave her enough pause, she could understand where they were coming from and even why they needed to see each other. Cocking her head to the side she called out, "Major Feretti, Could you go let Daniel know that he can bring Cassie over now."

123454321

Daniel had been holding on tightly to Cassie as with every loud sound the teen wanted to rush away and try to find Ranma, seeing Major Feretti walking calmly though caused him to sigh in relief. It was not that he was getting exasperated with the teen, no he could fully see where she was coming from, it was more that he was glad that everything was okay as he was fairly sure that if there was something wrong Feretti would not appear so calm.

Lifting his hand off of Cassie's shoulder he asked for conformation of his suspicions, "Everything alright?"

Shrugging Feretti answered, "It appears so. The doc is trying to convince her to let her remove the device."

Noting that Cassie looked about ready to bolt he asked, "I take it that Janet sent you to retrieve Cassie."

Feretti barely had time to shrug when he was nearly knocked aside as Cassie rushed past him. Glancing over at Daniel he stated, "She seems to be in a bit of a hurry."

Shrugging Daniel replied, "She's been all worked up for the past week, I'm just glad that Jack was able to calm the girl down."

12343421

""RANMA…." Cassie cried out in excitement as she rushed into the infirmary.

"Cassie…" Ranma replied shyly, suddenly feeling rather unsure of herself now that Cassie was standing before her.

"Oh Ranma, I'm so glad you're alright…" Cassie fretted as she approached the group and took a knee right next to her mother so that she could take Ranma's hand into her own.

"You are…" Ranma asked uncertainly as she tried to avoid the other girls eyes, "I didn't think you would want to see me again… Not after all that happened."

Cassie's eye's sobered at that, Hoping to make her new friend more comfortable Cassie slid her free hand over the other teens sandwiching them warmly between her own two hands and said, "Ranma, I know we haven't known each other that long but I am very happy that you are alright. I was really worried about you."

Hoping to help the situation along Janet added, "That's right Ranma, She's been really worried about you for the last week and has been by to see you as often as I would let her."

Ranma tried to turn her face away from everyone as her eyes started to tear up. Though she still felt as if her world was crumbling apart with all that had happened, Cassie had been there for her when it all started to crumble.

Noticing that Ranma's eyes had started to tear up Cassie gently set Ranma's hand at the redheads side and leaned over to hug the other girl while saying, "I know… I've been so scared… "

Jack looked over at Doctor Frasier silently asking her if what he was seeing was normal as Cassie's personality had gone from timid and unsure to supportive in the half hour or so since they had arrived.

Janet looked back uncertainly in response; She knew that her daughter had been feeling vulnerable and scared for the past week, up to the point to where the teen had been crawling into bed with her at night. At the moment though those insecurities were muted as Cassie had taken on a more comforting role. Sighing internally Janet placed her hand on Cassie's back and said, "Cassie, Hun… I need to get Ranma prepped for surgery so I can remove the device before it becomes active again."

"Okay mom…" Cassie replied as she sat back and reclaimed Ranma's hand in her own. After a moments silence where no one spoke Cassie asked, "Mom… Can I stay with Ranma while you remove the device?"

After standing up Janet gazed down into her daughters eyes for a moment while she debated her answer. She really didn't want to put her daughter into any more danger if it could be avoided yet at the same time Ranma did not want to be put asleep and was willing to be restrained while they worked on removing the implant. Thinking that Cassie's presence might actually ease Ranma's mind a bit she nodded and said, "Only if it's okay with Ranma."

Nodding while Cassie helped her up Ranma replied quietly, "I'd like that."

Cassie smiled brightly for the first time in the little over a week that she had been back. For some reason it felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Sure she knew that the other things she had been feeling were still there and that it would probably be some time before she felt comfortable being by herself, at the moment though she felt that she could push it aside.

"Easy there." Jack stated as he stepped in to steady Ranma as the redhead swayed on her feet. Scooping her up into his arms he added, Why don't we get you on a gurney until the Doc is ready for you."

"I'll be right there with you." Cassie supplied helpfully as she followed Jack over to another gurney.

Ranma almost wanted to protest at being treated like that but quickly decided against it as she was suddenly feeling somewhat exhausted.

12354321

Stargate Command Briefing Room, one week later.

123454321

"So how are Cassie and our guest doing Doctor." General Hammond asked.

"Better… As long as they are together." Janet started before elaborating, "Cassie is still having some problems…"

"Is she still having problems with her friends?" Sam asked clearly out of concern for her pseudo niece.

"Well there's that… And she still has problems sleeping by herself, doesn't like large crowds and seems to be hesitant to be left alone with anyone…" Janet clarified before adding, "Present company excluded." Seeing the General nod in acceptance she continued, "Of course Doctor McKenzie say's that kind of behavior is not uncommon with situations similar to this."

"What of Mr. Saotome?" Hammond asked while making a few notes.

"Well Cassie seems to only truly relax around Ranma and vise versa to a degree."

"I see… Has Mr. Saotome shown any signs of being a threat since the implant was removed."

"No Sir." Janet answered firmly before motioning for Sam to explain.

"General, I don't think Ranma is as much of a threat as he believes."

"Major… We are talking about the same person here right?"

"Yea sir, " Sam replied reluctantly before adding, "But I believe that reaction was the direct result of the circumstances preceding the incident. With the implant removed and Ranma being weaned completely off of the drug cocktail he had been on I believe the threat he poses to be minimal. Unless he were to be attacked directly."

Interjecting Janet said, "Doctor McKenzie and I agree on this as well General, with the mitigating factors no longer present Ranma is more afraid of loosing control of himself and is more likely to avoid confrontation than to stand up for himself."

"So you're saying he's lost his mojo?" Jack asked with a concerned frown.

"Yes sir." Janet replied, "I've been over the Data from the USB device several times and it seems that Ranma was nearing the point to where they were going to mind stamp him. Taking the notes contained in the drive and Doctor McKenzie's own thoughts on the matter Ranma has undergone nearly a full one-eighty in his personality. Also, though we know that Ranma's special ability is a factor Doctor McKenzie is unsure as to how much relevance it has on the overall picture…"

"By special ability you're talking about his curse.. And not his other abilities… Right?" Jack asked.

"Yes sir, however I believe it best for Ranma's sake that we refrain from calling his ability to shift genders a curse at this time, it might have detrimental effects on his psyche." Janet stated firmly not wanting to argue over the matter.

"Very well…" General Hammond conceded before making a note to reread all of the reports on Ranma as there was just too much information to go through and at the moment while there was a general concern for Ranma's well being with his flagship team and medical staff he still had a base and off world operations to run. Looking over at his old friends daughter he asked, "Speaking of Ranma's ability, Major, have you been able to come up with anything new?"

"No sir… Not really anyway, at this point its all theory but I severely doubt that it is magic. If anything I believe it to be somewhat similar to the nanites that were responsible for aging Colonel O'Neill." Sam stated as she shifted through some of her notes.

"Similar?" Jack asked carefully not really wanting to rehash the time that he had been turned into a decrepit old man.

"Without further testing I can't be certain. We can tell that there is something there but at the moment our ability to identify it is currently beyond our means. Unfortunately though further testing will have to wait until after Ranma has recovered a bit more as Doctor McKenzie has advised against any extensive testing until Ranma is in a clearer state of mind and no longer feels obligated to do whatever he is told."

Seeing a few puzzled looks being directed at her Sam clarified her statement, "Doctor McKenzie wants Ranma to be more self assertive before we subject him to more tests than absolutely necessary as he believes that at this point Ranma is too concerned with not upsetting people and will likely concede to any invasion of his privacy without so much as a peep of protest."

"That's going to make things a bit more difficult."

"What do you mean General? It doesn't seem that difficult to me, the NID were the people who did this to the kid… We sure as hell can't count on them or any other agency to try to help Ranma recover." Jack stated as he straitened up in his seat to give the general his undivided attention.

Taking in a deep breath Hammond reluctantly drawled out, "I am currently being pressured to release young Mr. Saotome into the care of a facility that would be better suited to fit his needs…"

Knowing that the general was inferring that Ranma was going to be sent to a place to make him disappear rather than help him Jack shot up to his feet and exclaimed hotly, "Sir you can't let them do that… They just want to cover their sorry assess… They don't give a damn about what the kid needs to recover; their solution will be keep him doped up like some sort of zombie." turning his head over to Major Davis whom he had thought to be better than some boot licking toady Jack continued, "You can go back to your bosses and tell them that the kid will be moved over my dead body, I'll call the president if I have to … he does owe me one…"

"COLONEL O'NEILL… THAT'S ENOUGH… SIT DOWN OR EXCUSE YOURSELF FROM THIS MEETING…" roared General Hammond as he attempted to silence his XO.

Realizing that he was out of line Jack made a visual show of sitting back down in his seat.

Nodding to himself Hammond sternly stated, "As I was going to say, I do not think that it would be wise at this time to do such a thing. However that leaves us with finding a valid reason as to why Mr. Saotome should stay under the protection of this command."

"Sir/General???" asked several people at once with the exception of Jack whom seemed rather embarrassed for his outburst and for not trusting the General whom he knew to be a good man.

"Major Davis believes that he can stall things in Washington for awhile. However, in the mean time we must come up with a valid enough reason to allow Mr. Saotome to stay here with this command otherwise we will eventually have to turn him over."

"General," Daniel started drawing all eyes on him, "What about using Ranma for what the NID had in mind?"

"Daniel???" Janet asked appalled that he could even consider such a thing.

"No… No… That's not what I mean…" Daniel stuttered quickly, "I'm not talking about mind stamping him or anything like that… But… We do have a lot of information from the NID about what Ranma can do, and for the most part this information has yet to be verified… So…"

"We keep him here while we observe him to check the validity of the NID's claims under the guise of Ranma might prove to be a valuable resource to the SGC." Sam finished for Daniel having understood where he was going.

"Right…" Chirped Daniel, "And the best part is, is that we can hold off on any obtrusive tests indefinitely to focus more on observing Ranma's physical abilities, which in itself could take years to understand fully."

"Yeah about that…" Jack started cautiously, "I've sort of secured a store room for Ranma to practice his abilities in."

"That's good then, we'll just observe through the security camera's for now." General Hammond stated glad to have resolved the situation for the time being.

"It's not that simple Sir." Jack replied sheepishly, "I sort of promised Ranma that there would be no one watching him so he could practice in private without fear of being watched."

"Why would you do that Colonel." Asked Hammond sternly.

"I didn't want Ranma to think that we were just like the NID."

Reluctantly General Hammond replied, "I see… Unfortunately, we need something to satisfy the people in Washington."

"Well…" Started Daniel as he stroked his chin thoughtfully, "There's nothing that say's we need to have a physical record of anything he does at the moment. So for the time being since the only people he seems to interact with on a regular basis are Cassie, Janet and Jack and to a lesser degree Sam and myself we just write down our observations in a log and use that until such a time where we are required to give the people in Washington more."

Nodding in agreement General Hammond said, "For now we will try to make do with that Doctor Jackson. I am curious though, after watching some of the visual files and going over what the implant was forcing Mr. Saotome to see, how does he interact with Teal'c."

"He appears to be apprehensive and on guard whenever I am near." Teal'c stated.

"He might be associating Teal'c with the Goa'uld, General." Sam supplied helpfully, "It does make some sense even if he doesn't fully understand what he was watching that the images might have stuck with him enough so that he is unconsciously wary of Jaffa."

"Well we can't have that now can we… " Jack stated humorously, "Teal'c will just have to win him over using that legendary Jaffa charm of his."

Raising an eyebrow at the friendly jibe Teal'c decided to give into the moment and simply replied, "Indeed."

"See… With charm like that Teal'c will have won Ranma over in no time…" Jack chuckled somewhat seriously.

"Well if there is nothing else that needs to be discussed privately I believe that I am ready to meet Mr. Saotome." General Hammond stated seriously, effectively silencing the few remaining chuckles coming from his staff. Pressing a button on the conference room's phone he said, Airman please show Mr. Saotome and Miss. Frasier into the conference room."

123454321

Ranma gulped apprehensively as he stared at the door to the conference room.

Sensing Ranma's apprehension Cassie gave his hand a warm squeeze and said, "Everything will be okay… General Hammond is one of the good guy's."

Ranma nodded absently as he was mentally focused more on the what if's as in what if they decided to send him away somewhere and keep him locked up, or even worse what if they sent him back to the lab. Sure he knew that Jack said that the people who had been keeping him were rouge NID agents but that didn't meant that the more official side of their organization was not going to want to get his hands on him. For a brief second he felt that Cassie was too close to the people and wished Wanda was there but she was dead. Not by his hand as it turned out, which had Ranma cycling through a mix of emotions ranging from relief to anger to despair, but by the hand of the very people she had worked for. Firming his resolve and hoping that this was not all some sort of sick joke at his expense he knocked on the door.

123454321

/Knock Knock/

"That must be them now." General Hammond said as he motioned for Colonel O'Neill to get the door.

"Right… make the cripple get it." Joked Jack as he made a slight show of getting out of his seat and walking to the conference room door. Swinging the door open and noticing that it was indeed Ranma and Cassie Jack smiled and made a motion to dismiss the two airmen that were assigned to escort the two to the conference room. "Come on in… I believe you already know; Daniel, Doctor Frasier, Major Carter and Teal'c." Ushering the two forward Jack continued, "The big man at the end of the table is General Hammond the Base Commander and to his right is Major Paul Davis."

Ranma nodded slightly noting that to his side Cassie had greeted the general with a smile causing him to feel a little more at ease with the situation.

"My apologies for not meeting with you sooner Mr. Saotome, But being the base commander keeps me fairly busy.." Stated General Hammond warmly as he rose from his seat to shake the teen's hand.

Ranma shrugged slightly as he awkwardly stepped forward to take the man's hand before sitting down in between Jack and Cassie.

"See what'd I tell you, he's a regular chatter box." Jack stated warmly before he leaned in to Ranma and said, "Relax, we're not going to let anything bad happen to you… I promise…"

Despite Jack's well meaning words Ranma found himself shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he tried to put his general unease to rest. It was difficult despite the fact that he was sandwiched in-between Cassie and Jack, it wasn't so much the two new people in uniform though, they seemed normal enough and both Cassie and Jack had vouched for them. No what was truly unsettling for him was the fact that the large man with the golden tattoo had him on edge for some reason that he had as of yet been able to pin down. Sure both Cassie and Jack had vouched for the man on more than one occasion, and according to Cassie it was that man that Jack had ran off to assist back near the Cave, still though he found the man unsettling and that was bothering him.

General Hammond waited until the teen settle down in his seat, idly noting that although the teen wasn't looking directly at the former first prime, he still kept the man within his line of sight. Wanting to set Ranma at ease he spoke warmly, "First off, I would like to assure you that my command and I will do all that we can do to help you out, including helping you find your father."

Ranma looked up sharply with a hopeful expression on his face before he re-hung his head feeling a combination of shame and helplessness.

Cassie squeezing her friends hand asked worriedly, "Ranma what's wrong?"

"It's nothing…" Ranma muttered, "It's just that I can't even remember where I was supposed to meet him, or if he's still there waiting for me… Even if I did remember would he even want to see me after all that I've done…"

"What was done to you, Ranma. You were being manipulated by some very bad people who wanted to use you for your abilities. I'm sure your father would understand that it was beyond your control." Janet stated softly in an effort to raise the teens spirits up.

"I suppose…" Ranma stated slowly not really believing her.

Not wanting the teen to dwell on the matter Jack asked, "You said before that you were supposed to return to Japan Right?" Seeing Ranma nod in confirmation he continued, "Well, that's a starting place. Is there anything else you can remember to narrow it down?"

"Somewhere in or around Tokyo." Ranma answered softly.

"Well there you go… We'll find him in no time… How hard can it be to find one man in Tokyo after all." Jack chirped cheerfully in an attempt to restore some hope for the teen.

"Jack… Tokyo is not some small town, it's a major metropolitan area containing several prefectures…"

"I know that Daniel…" Jack stated heatedly, "I was just trying to cheer Ranma up a bit."

"Oh… Right." Daniel replied weakly somewhat embarrassed that he had missed Jacks intentions.

"Regardless." General Hammond Interjected, "I assure you Ranma that we will do all we can to locate your father for you. In the meantime though there are a few things I have to tell you."

Shifting his attention to the general Ranma nodded for him to go ahead.

"First off, this is a top secret installation. While you are here your movements will have to be monitored." Seeing Ranma wince he added, "This is for your safety as well as ours there are things that we do here that can be very dangerous. I want to assure you that you are not our prisoner but there areas that you are going to be restricted from entering at specific times and other area's that are going to be off limits all together unless you have an escort. Colonel O'Neill will go over those areas with you later. Okay?"

"I guess." Ranma shrugged.

"Also, while you are not our prisoner…" General Hammond restated, "I am afraid that we are going to have to set guidelines for when we allow you off of the base. The NID could still be after you and this is for your own protection. However, due to the top secret nature of this facility we can not afford to bring undue attention to us. To that extent I am afraid that I am going to have to ask you to refrain from changing your shape outside of the base."

"He doesn't have any control over it though…" Cassie pleaded not wanting Ranma to have to stay cooped up on the base.

"I understand that, what I am saying though is basically that Ranma can leave the base but to do so he has to be female as summer is nearly over and any ground water or rain should not be warm enough to shift him back into a male."

"So Ranma can't leave the base unless he's a girl?" Cassie asked before adding, "What about if he's inside a house… Can he change back then as long as no one outside sees him."

"It would be best if he didn't just to retain some continuity for any prying eyes." Sam said, knowing that though the odds were slim there was always the chance of some old busy body snooping around."

"Oh…" Cassie stated somewhat sadly not really understanding why she felt so bummed out about Ranma having to stay as a girl if he was off base, despite the fact that they were allowing him to be able to leave anyway.

Feeling the need to clarify things for her daughter Janet added, "Cassie was hoping to have Ranma over tomorrow night for dinner to celebrate her birthday with her. I had told her that we would see about it."

"I see…" General Hammond stated as his eyes drifted back and forth between Cassie and Ranma.

"It's not what you think." Cassie blurted out quickly, despite not knowing herself what she thought, "It's just that Ranma only has clothes that fit as a guy."

General Hammond glanced down at Ranma's file before him and nodded his head upon reading Ranma's height when female was shy of five feet. "Well I'm sure that between today and tomorrow night we can find something suitable for Ranma to wear to your birthday party. Although if Ranma is going to attend he will need an armed escort."

Shrugging Jack replied, "I think that can be arranged." Originally he hadn't been planning on attending Cassie's party and had been going to give her gift to her before hand out of the general awkwardness of being at a teen girls party but since Ranma had come into the picture he thought it would be good for the kid to get out in the real world and get some fresh air.

"Actually I was sort of hoping that Sam, Daniel and Teal'c would come too…" Cassie added quietly.

"Sure Cassie we would love to go. Right guy's?" Sam stated knowing that three weeks ago when they had asked the girl if she had wanted them to go she had declined in favor of being with her friends but had obviously changed her mind since then, due to currently being on the outs with said friends.

"Well I think that just about covers everything. For the moment. If there are any problems let me know. Otherwise, Ranma feel free to come talk to me any time you want, just let an airman or Colonel O'Neill know to bring you over to see me first." General Hammond stated after watching the members of his flagship team nod in agreement to attend Cassie's party.

"Ranma… Before you go…" Started Major Davis as he stood up and straitened his uniform out.

Pausing halfway out of his seat Ranma directed his attention to the man and asked, "Yes?"

Reaching into his pocket and taking out a small white card Major Davis explained, "I wanted to give you my card." Seeing the teen's rather blank look he added, "Since I will be the one who will be doing most of the leg work in tracking down your father I thought it might be best if I gave you a means to contact me directly just in case you remembered something further that might be of use. I know that General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter all know how to get a hold of me but I wanted to make sure that if any of them were not available you could reach me without having to track someone else down."

Taking the offered card into his hand and depositing it in his pocket Ranma nodded his thanks and said, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Paul said as he retracted his arm and turned his attention to Cassie, "Before I go though, happy birthday Cassie."

"Thank you Major Davis…" Cassie replied sporting a slight blush in embarrassment.

Glancing at the wall clock Major Davis said, "If you'll excuse me though I need to have one last word with the general before I leave to catch my flight."

"Ranma, Cassie… Could you two step in the hall with Doctor Frasier, I need to have a word with the Major before he goes off to talk with the General."

Once everyone else had cleared out of the room leaving Major Davis and General Hammond, Jack started of, "Paul, I just wanted to apologize for earlier."

"No problem Colonel…" Major Davis replied cutting of the Colonel before he could finish completely with his apology, "I know what it looked like at first, but I assure you that I will do everything I can to find his father for him. Though it's proving to be a bit more of a challenge than I had initially thought."

"How so…" Jack asked curiously thinking that with how readily available information was via the internet that the Major would have no problem with the task at hand.

"We'll just say that after the NID got a hold of Ranma, it seems that they did their absolute best to erase his existence, I can't even find the school records for the few schools that Ranma remembered attending. I've tried to go through official channels but the Japanese government has been giving me the run around."

"That means? What exactly?" Jack asked.

"Basically that even when I do find his father things will still have to get smoothed out with the Japanese government and I can't really involve the state department due to security issues."

"What's the problem with the Japanese government?" General Hammond inquired.

"Honestly sir, I think that they might be in leagues with the NID to some degree, it's nothing concrete but they do seem rather adamant that Ranma is not to set foot on Japanese soil."

"That really doesn't make much sense though." general Hammond asked, "If they were in league with the NID wouldn't it be easier to recapture Ranma if he was over there."

"Actually…" Jack interjected, "Ranma had said that he and his dad did move around a lot, it might just be easier for the NID to wait and grab Ranma over here than to try and track him in Japan."

"That's what I was thinking Colonel." Major Davis replied.

"Well that certainly presents a problem then. Unfortunately, at the moment there is little we can do on the matter. I do have some contacts over there in Okinawa so I might be able to dig up some support on that end. For now though we will just have to try to work around the issue and hope that we can come up with something if and when we find Ranma's father." Slightly switching gears General Hammond asked, "Major, have you included your search to include any other family members that Ranma might have that he isn't aware of?"

Nodding Major Davis replied, "Yes, but it seems that Saotome is not a terribly uncommon name in Japan."

"Well hopefully you have a good long distance carrier…" Jack joked before he sobered slightly and added in a mock crumble, "If you'll excuse me though … Things to do and all that, probably going to have to take Ranma shopping for some regular looking girls clothes.."

123454321

"Let's go back up to the Infirmary level." Janet said as she started to guide the two teens to the elevators, knowing that they had to keep Ranma ignorant of the Stargate and the best way to do so was to keep him away from their current level.

Cassie nodded in slight disappointment, she had been hoping that General Hammond would tell Ranma about the Stargate so she could tell him the truth about where she was from.

""Is something wrong Cassie?" Sam asked having seen the disappointment on the teens face. "General Hammond said that Ranma could go as long as he was escorted."

"Huh… No it's nothing…" Cassie replied not wanting to explain her disappointment or even sure how she could do so without mentioning the Stargate.

Ranma had been following along lost in thoughts of how everyone seemed to be genuinely trying to help him and the possibility of being reunited with his father. Of the former he wasn't so sure how to feel, he hadn't known these people but they seemed real nice but so had Wanda and Sheila. The possibility of being reunited with his father had his stomach in knots as he contemplated all that had happened, he felt certain that he had disgraced himself with his actions and allowing his weaknesses to be exploited as they were.

"So Ranma, what do you want to do?" Sam asked as she tried to engage the teen in conversation.

"Huh… What???" Ranma said as his looked around.

Smiling warmly Sam said, "I asked if you wanted Janet and Cassie to take you to get some more suitable clothing for your girl form."

Silently chastising herself for not paying attention and losing track of where Teal'c was Ranma replied softly, "Can't I just wear some sweats or something? Or even just barrow from Cassie or something?"

"You could," Sam replied cautiously as she watched Ranma maneuver slightly in the hall so that he was walking directly behind Teal'c. "But, Cassie is nearly a half of foot taller than you when you're a girl, the closest person to your height is Janet and she's still 3 to four inches taller than you." Ignoring the somewhat joking dirty look Janet had directed at her for mentioning how short she was without her heels Sam added, "I just thought that you might be more comfortable if you weren't swimming in your clothes."

"I don't know… I guess." Ranma replied reluctantly feeling somewhat embarrassed over his height when a girl and the fact that people were showing him so much concern over something so trivial.

"Cassie and I can stop by a store and pick you up a few things if you don't feel comfortable going out just yet." Janet stated as she came to a stop in front of the elevators.

"I don't want to be a bother or anything." Ranma said while looking down at his feet.

"Nonsense… It's no bother Ranma, besides I have to stop by the store tonight on the way home anyway to pick up a few things." Assured Janet as she depressed the elevator call button. "Though if you have any preferences you should let Cassie know, just to make sure that you're comfortable with what we pick up for you."

Ranma shrugged and replied, "Uhm, as long as it's not too frilly or anything…"

"Okay, nothing frilly it is then." Janet supplied with a warm smile as she stepped into the elevator first, followed closely by Ranma and Cassie.

Stepping into the elevator Teal'c frowned internally, for the most part he was quite used to people being afraid of him. There were even times where he found his natural ability to seem menacing and intimidating a blessing. What was upsetting him though was the fact that if things continued as they were he was certain that Ranma Saotome would not ever be able to be at ease around him. Settling up against the side furthest away from Ranma he leaned back and considered his options.

The Tau'ri wanted to take the teens recovery slow so as to not cause the teen any undue stress while simultaneously working to gain the boy's trust. For the most part Teal'c respected that and even agreed with it, however fundamentally he thought their reasoning to be flawed, but he had been raised with a whole set of different customs and rituals and while Ranma was no Jaffa Teal'c felt that he might benefit from certain Jaffa ideals. Not only that but a large part of him believed that perhaps the Tau'ri should consider informing Ranma about the Stargate and seek out the teen's aid in fighting the Goa'uld. After all, what was done was done and it would be a waste of a very powerful potential ally to not even at least consider that avenue. Noting that everyone with the exception of O'Neill was now in the elevator Teal'c pressed the button to bring them up to the infirmary level and then after a moments consideration pressed the button to bring him to the level where his quarters were, he needed to meditate on the best course of action and means to convince the others to at least consider his way.

"You're not coming with us Teal'c?" Daniel asked curiously.

Thinking that by pressing the button for the floor where his quarters were was an apparent answer Teal'c raised his brow and stated, "I have a desire to meditate Daniel Jackson."

"Uhm okay…" Daniel replied slowly wondering what was going through his friends head.

Ranma held back the large exhale wondering why he was feeling relieved that the large man was not going to be joining them before turning back to Doctor Frasier and asking, "Would it be okay if I went and practiced some?"

"Well, I have some work that I need to catch up on that's been building up for the past few days so you'll either have to wait up in the infirmary until Colonel O'Neill comes up or…" Janet added, "I'm sure Sam and Daniel would be willing to escort you over to the storeroom that the Colonel procured for you."

12345654321

Later that night, Janet was sitting in her bed writing up reports on her laptop, she was just about finished having to just spell check and edit the last one when her door slid open. Frowning in concern she called out, "Cassie is everything okay?" Knowing full well that it had become a nightly ritual for Cassie to climb into bed with her Janet moved aside some of the blankets and set her laptop aside wanting to give her daughter her full attention.

"I don't feel so good…" Cassie replied as she moved into the room and into the bed.

Not sure whether to feel relieved that Cassie had not answered with, 'I had another nightmare' Janet reached out and pressed her hand to Cassie forehead. "Well you feel a little warm. Just go to sleep Hun, if its worse in the morning I might have to see about keeping you home from school, and maybe even postponing your party tomorrow night."

"I'll be fine mom… Just a little tired, that's all." Cassie reassured as she tried to get comfortable in the bed. Despite her reassurances however Cassie knew that she was feeling a little under the weather and had been for the past week or so. It was just that she was still feeling guilty over being what she considered a bad daughter and did not want to bother her mother with something as trivial as a slight fever.

"We'll see…" Janet said cautiously as she reached over and closed her laptop for the night before laying back in an attempt to go to sleep.

12345654321

The next day`

123453221

Ranma sat in the middle of the floor in the storeroom that Jack had procured for him. His hands outstretched before him, encompassed in a soft white glow while beads of sweat continued to run down his face. It was a new technique that he had been working on for almost six days, after it had been pointed out to him that the NID had been trying to make him into a weapon of destruction with their manipulations.

The technique in itself served two purposes for him though. First off it would serve as a constant reminder to himself that he was more than just capable of destruction and death. And two, last night he had realized that he had not gotten Cassie a present for her birthday. Jack had tried to express to him that it would not matter to Cassie that he had not gotten the girl anything, that for Cassie, simply going would be enough. But Ranma thought otherwise, everyone else was getting her a gift and while he knew that Jack would lend him money to pick up something for her Ranma wanted his gift to mean something more than any trinket he would be able to find at the last minute.

Of course Ranma was aware that Cassie might not like it. That very thought had his stomach twisting into knots as he wanted to show her how much her friendship meant to him. She had after all been there to comfort him when his world had crumbled, she even witnessed his inner monster and had still stayed by him. He felt that he needed to show her that he was capable of something more than tearing apart people like a savage beast.

/KNOCK KNOCK/

"Hey Ranma… Open up, you're going to have to get ready, the Doc left to pick up Cassie from school and start setting things up an hour ago."

Ranma shifted his head slightly as he began to dissipate the technique. Ever since the implant had been removed he had been trying to be more aware of his surroundings so that he would not lash out at someone on accident. Standing up in one fluid motion he made his way over to the door and answered, "I'm coming."

"Good, Teal'c and Carter already left to meet up and help the Doc set things up." Stepping aside as the door swung open Jack continued, "Plus, I figured that we might leave a bit early just in case you decided to take me up on my offer."

Feeling a very sudden onset of self doubt Ranma stopped just short of telling Jack that his offer would not be necessary and shifted mental gears feeling that a back up gift would be a good idea just incase she didn't like what he wanted to show her. So instead of declining the man's offer Ranma nodded and hesitantly asked, "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Placing his hand on the teens shoulder as he began to steer Ranma in the direction of the teens assigned quarters Jack exclaimed, "Ranma there's a lot you don't know about me but I'll tell you this. When I say it's no problem, then it's no problem." Noticing that a doubtful expression had crossed over Ranma's face Jack felt it necessary to add, "Besides it's not like the money is doing me any good sitting in the bank."

"Uhm okay…" Ranma replied unsure as to whether Jack was joking or not.

1234321

Frasier residence roughly an hour later

1234321

Ranma stepped up to the door and nervously checked her appearance for the umpteenth time since she had changed gender and clothes. Over all she had been satisfied with what Cassie and her mom had picked out for her, all together four different outfits for her to mix and match. A rather nice looking leather Jacket that looked unisex enough to be able to be worn as a male, three pairs of shoes, two pairs of jeans, a few sweat shirts, a nice pair of slacks, a blouse and a blue and grey jogging suit with a few simple t-shirts thrown in for good measure. For tonight though Ranma was wearing the less causal of the outfits, consisting of the black slacks that hung right at her hips, the matching shoes that gave her a little bit of added height and long sleeved red and white patterned blouse that thankfully was long enough to ensure that her backside remained covered when she bent over. The only real complaint Ranma had though was Cassie's selection of underwear as the several pairs she now owned seemed a little too racy for her own tastes..

Shoving her hands into her pockets she fingered the last minute gift that Jack had bought for her to give to Cassie. It was nothing extravagant, just a simple piece of quartz attached to a plain looking chain, but Ranma thought that Cassie would like it.

"Well are you going to knock or just stand out here all night." Jack said as he came up the steps.

"I was just waiting for you…" Ranma replied lamely.

"Riiiiigggghhhhtt…." Jack drawled out as he knocked loudly on the door.

"Coming…." Came a muffled voice before the door swung open to reveal a grinning Daniel Jackson, "It's about time you two showed up, Cassie wanted to send out the Marines to look for you."

Snorting in amusement Jack pushed a large wrapped box into Daniels arms while keeping the six pack of Guinness for himself to carry. Pushing past his friend Jack exclaimed happily, "Well we're here now so let's get this party started…"

"Uhmm… Jack???" Daniel asked as he took note of the six pack in Jack's hand.

"Daniel???" Jack questioned in return as he turned around.

"You do know that this is a sixteen year old girls birthday party you are going to… Right?" Daniel drawled out slowly.

Feigning ignorance Jack replied, "Yeah… And?"

"You're bringing beer?" Daniel asked in disbelief not knowing what was running through his friends head.

"Oh right… How'd that get there…" Jack stated in mock surprise before he switched gears and said, "Relax Danny it's not for her, it's for us."

Deciding to ignore Jack for the moment Daniel turned his attention back to the teen who had not yet entered the house and said, "You look rather nice Ranma… Is that one of the outfits that Cassie and her mother picked out for you last night?"

Ranma looked down to her feet in the hopes that the simple action would hide her blush over the compliment on what she was wearing.

Sensing that the silence was moments away from becoming awkward Daniel offered, "Do you want to come in?"

"Ahh… Yes…" Ranma replied hesitantly, still feeling extremely nervous.

Stepping aside to allow the teen more room to enter he added, "Cassie's in the living room playing chess with Sam.

Nodding absently in response Ranma stepped through the door, after taking a moment to remove her shoes and place her somewhat oversized jacket on a hook she began to look around wondering where Cassie was as she had no idea on where the living room was. Hearing noises to his right she started to head off towards the sounds.

Coming up behind Ranma, Daniel interjected, "Living room's strait down the hall and to the left, that's the kitchen your heading too."

Nodding in appreciation Ranma corrected her course and hesitantly made her way deeper into the house, stopping just short of the doorway to the living room where she spied Cassie and Sam playing a game of chess.

123454321

Cassie had just moved her Rook into place but as much as she enjoyed playing chess with Sam she had been distracted from the get go. Originally the game had started as a means to quell her nervousness but as time wore one it was getting harder and more difficult to focus on the game. Hearing Jack's overly enthused voice booming from the kitchen had tore the rest of her resolve to stay focused on the game at hand because she knew that if Jack had just arrived then Ranma must be there as well.

Taking advantage of Cassie's distraction Sam moved her queen into position and called, "That's check mate Cassie… You must be slipping to lose this quickly."

Blushing in embarrassment Cassie double checked the game board, looking for some sort of reprieve for her chess playing abilities. Not seeing one she sighed and apologized, "I'm sorry Sam… I was distracted…"

"That's fine…" Sam said as she waved off Cassie's apology with a grin, adding, "I just wonder what could possibly be distracting you enough for you to lose four out of five games to me."

"There's no one…" Cassie blurted out before she realized what she had started to say and corrected herself with, "It's nothing…"

Laughing slightly at her honorary niece's embarrassment Sam replied with a wink, "Well I was just going to say that what ever it is I owe it my gratitude for helping me win."

Blushing over Sam's good-natured teasing Cassie tried to look anywhere but at the blond major, pretending to examine every little bit of decorations adorning her living room's walls. That is until her vision came across a short haired redheaded girl, smiling in excitement she dashed out of her seat and exclaimed, "Ranma… You're here…" Enveloping the shorter girl in a hug she gushed happily, "I was starting to think that Jack forgot or something." Not giving her friend a chance to respond she moved her into arms length and said, "You look great… I knew that outfit would look good on you."

"Thanks… I guess…" Ranma replied awkwardly as she was feeling a bit out of her element.

Noticing her friend's lack of enthusiasm Cassie asked in concern, "What's the matter??? Don't you like it???"

Nodding her head Ranma replied unsurely, "It's nice and all… I'm just not really used to dressing like this." Hoping to bring Cassie's attention away from herself Ranma quickly added, "You look nice…"

Not noticing the bright blush that had spread across her friends face Cassie smiled and allowed a slight misinterpretation of the facts come out, "Oh this old thing… I just threw this on…" In reality though she had spent almost an hour going through her closet trying on and discarding clothes before settling with a long brown skirt, white blouse with a matching fitted brown sweater that served to keep the exposed skin level to a minimum.

Sam had been watching the two teens interact intently while idly resetting the game board. For the past two weeks she had noted that Cassie had seemly switched her tastes of clothing into the more conservative side of the spectrum. Tonight though she was somewhat surprised, not really so much with Cassie's choice of clothing though it was a bit more conservative than the usual latest norm for the teen. The truly surprising factor was with what Cassie had picked out for Ranma, she had been expecting something more of along the lines of what Cassie was wearing and not the rather curve defining clothes that the redhead was wearing tonight.

Deciding to ask Janet about it later Sam called out to the two teens and asked, "Ranma, do you want to play a game of chess before dinner? We might not have enough time to finish it though."

"Huh… Oh right… chess.." Ranma replied weakly glad for the distraction.

"Ranma's pretty good Sam." Cassie stated helpfully while she began to guide Ranma over to the couch by placing setting her arm across Ranma's back so that her hand was comfortable resting on her hip, "Sam is the one who taught me how to play."

"Wow she must be really good then." Ranma admitted as she unconsciously leaned in a bit closer to Cassie.

"Yes she is." Cassie said as she smiled at Sam.

"I'm not that good." Sam replied defensively as blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't let her fool you Ranma, she's a lot better than she let's on." Jack warned as he entered the room holding two beers.

Switching her gaze to the items held in the Colonels hand she asked, "You brought beer to Cassie's birthday party?"

"Geez what is it with you people, ? First Daniel then Janet, it's almost as if nobody drinks… Well if you don't want one then it's more for me."

"I didn't say I didn't want one." Sam said as she moved the board slightly so that Ranma wouldn't have to reach too far to move the pieces.

"Janet sent me in to tell you that dinner's almost ready." Jack said as he handed the offered beer over.

"Well we should have time for a quick game." Sam said as she indicated for Ranma to make the first move.

Ranma had been about to move her piece when a thought dawned on her, so far she had seen Daniel, Sam and Cassie, having arrived with Jack and been just informed where Cassie's mom was left one person accounted for. Voicing her concern over the matter she asked, "Where's Teal'c?"

Surprised that Ranma would be wondering over the whereabouts of someone that apparently had her constantly on edge Sam replied, "He's in the kitchen helping Janet with Dinner."

"Oh…" Ranma replied both relieved and surprised over the information she had just been given.

1234321

After Dinner

"So cake first or presents?" Janet asked as she stood up to begin clearing away the dishes.

"Cake/Presents"

"Colonel, I think that since it's Cassie's party she should be the one to decide on whether or not she has cake first or presents." Sam chastised while she shook her head in amusement.

"So cake and presents then?" Jack asked cheekily.

After giving the Colonel an exasperated sigh Janet turned to her Daughter and asked, "It's up to you honey, what do you want?"

Appearing indecisive for a moment Cassie made it a point to look at everyone at the table with a thoughtful pout as if she was fully considering all her options. Inwardly she was smiling brightly though, It had been a great dinner and being surrounded by the people she cared about and knew cared about her in return did a lot to lift up her spirits and take her mind away from the dark recesses of the cave. Finally as her eyes settled on Ranma she gave her answer, "Cake first."

"Cake it is then." Janet stated as she reached into the refrigerator to pull out the double layered chocolate cake that Sam had brought.

"SWEET!!!" Jack exclaimed happily

123454321

Ranma watched as Cassie set aside the last opened present and smiled causing her to advert her eyes while she nervously played with the hem of her shirt. Unlike the others she had not set her gift for Cassie out on the table for her to open in plain view, instead she had opted to leave it in her jacket pocket until she could give it to her when they were alone as Ranma was too focused on the possibility of her new friend flat out disliking the gift.

Jack had noted that Cassie had not yet opened Ranma's gift, looking around the various boxes strewn about the table he then realized that Ranma had not yet brought it out. Suddenly Ranma's more nervous than normal behavior clicked in his head as he figured that Ranma didn't want to give it to her in front of everyone. Sighing internally about somewhat emotionally damaged teenagers he offered the two teens an escape, one that would allow Ranma the privacy he obviously needed. "Well It's getting kind of late. Some of us have an early start in the morning." Turning to Ranma he asked, "Ranma I don't suppose you could give Cassie a hand in putting away her presents?"

Visibly sighing in relief Ranma nodded and replied, "Okay."

Once the two teens had stacked up all the gifts and made their way out of the room Daniel turned to Jack with a slightly puzzled look on his face and asked, "Early Start?"

Shrugging Jack replied, "I was being tactful. Ranma got Cassie a gift but didn't want to give it to her in front of everyone."

While Jack had been talking Janet had made her way over to the kitchen doorway to call out, "Cassie… Keep your door open."

Ignoring the bait of Jack calling himself tactful for the moment Daniel turned his attention to Janet to ask, "Why does she need to keep her door open?"

Staring at Daniel incredulously Sam factually stated, "Ranma's a boy."

"Yeah but he's a girl right now…" Daniel stated as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Daniel…" Janet started as she shook her head in disbelief, "What I mean is that Ranma's self identity is male no matter what body he's wearing."

"Yeah but he is physically a girl right now… So it's not like…" Daniel started as he still was not fully understanding where Janet was going with things.

"A girl with a boy's mind… With a girl in the same room… No supervision…" Sam stated before Jack snorted out, "Geez and people call me dense Danny."

Realization dawning on his face Daniel mouthed a silent, "Ohhh."

"Indeed." echoed Teal'c as he rose up from the table.

Feeling the need to explain things further Janet added, "I don't think anything is going to happen or anything like that, it's just a house rule."

Wanting to shift attention away from his momentary denseness Daniel turned to Jack and asked, "Tactful Jack?"

Holding up his hands defensively Jack fired back, "What? I can be tactful."

1234564321

Ranma, having retrieved her gift for Cassie from her jacket entered the room nervously, she had never been in a real girl's room before and was half expecting someone to lash out and make fun of her for some obscure unknown reason.

Sensing Ranma's nervousness Cassie walked over and retrieved the bundle of gifts from her friend and said, "Why don't you take a seat on the bed while I put this stuff away." Hearing the light footsteps that she had come to associate with Ranma walking now moving towards the bed Cassie continued, "What took you so long? You were right behind me when we left the kitchen."

Silently plopping down on the bed and hunching forward to stare at her nylon sock clad wiggling toes Ranma reluctantly replied, "I had to stop by my jacket to pick something up."

"Oh…" Cassie stated simply not wanting to show the excitement over the possibility of Ranma getting her a gift evident. In an attempt to make Ranma feel more at ease she asked, "Did all the clothes fit?"

Ranma instinctively nodded her head affirmatively before she realized that Cassie still had her back turned to her forcing her to reply verbally, "Yeah."

Placing her new clothes in her closet Cassie started, "That's good, Mom was worried that there might be some fitting issues."

Relaxing a bit Ranma replied, "Everything seemed to fit fine."

"Good." Cassie cheerfully shot back as she turned around to make her way over to the bed to sit down, spotting a curious bulge in Ranma's pants as she did so. Despite knowing how complete Ranma's female form was Cassie blushed and averted her eyes.

Feeling the twisting in his stomach increase tenfold when Cassie looked away from her Ranma mustered up the courage that she needed to present her friend with the gift in the hopes that she was not being shunned for not getting her anything. Reaching into her pocket she nervously stuttered out, "Hey… Cassie… I err… Got you a gift.."

Turning back to Ranma with a rather unexpected eager smile on her face Cassie asked, "You did? You didn't have too."

Looking back down to her feet Ranma held out the offered gift and replied, "I wanted to… I didn't have any money though, but Jack offered to loan me some, so I thought…"

Cutting off Ranma's ramblings as she reached over to take the small charm necklace out of her hands Cassie said, "It's really nice. I like it."

"You do?"

"Yeah, it's nice I'm going to put it on right now." Cassie said she began to drape the charm necklace over her neck.

Feeling a surge of confidence surge through herself from Cassie liking her back up gift Ranma added, "I got you something else too."

"Oh Ranma you didn't have to get me anything let alone two gifts." Cassie said as she finished locking the clasp on the chain that held the piece of quartz.

Nervously tugging at the hemline of her shirt Ranma replied, "It's not so much of a gift… but rather a technique I came up with a few days after I woke up… It's… I wanted to show it to you… To show you that I'm not… some kind of monster…"

"Oh Ranma," Cassie stated passionately, "I know you're not a monster…"

Adjusting herself on the bed to that she was now facing Cassie with her hands slightly outstretched Ranma began to initiate the technique, hoping that showing Cassie would say more than her current floundering for words could.

Cassie stared in wonder as Ranma's hands lit up with a soft white glow, tentatively she reached forward with her hand stating, "It's beautiful, what does it do?"

Ranma smiled at the evident awe in Cassie's voice and explained, "I haven't had a chance to test it out yet but it supposed to heal… I want to be more than just a weapon capable of death and destruction."

Wiping away a few stray tears as they started to run down her face at the wonderful sight before her Cassie inched her hand closer to Ranma's own while eagerly looking into the redheads eyes silently asking if she could allow the soft light to wash over her. Seeing Ranma nod Cassie moved her hand the rest of the way only to exclaim, "It feels wonderful… I can't even begin to describe it."

Ranma feeling the strain of keeping the technique up allowed it to dissipate slowing into the air around him.

Not letting her slight disappointment for the dissipation of the technique show Cassie lunged forward and enveloped Ranma in a warm embrace while gushing, "It was so wonderful Ranma…"

"It was?" came Ranma's happy but puzzled response as she wrapped her arms around Cassie in return. Not being used to the level of intimacy that was being directed at her Ranma blushed heavily while utilizing all of her control to remain still, not wanting to lose the feeling of warmth and acceptance that Cassie was showing her.

"Yes it was." Cassie stated feeling completely overwhelmed with emotion as she planted a simple chaste kiss on her redheaded friends cheek.

The moment Cassie's lips met her skin Ranma knew something was horribly wrong. The feeling of wrongness only increased as the lights in the room surged brightly while Cassie began to convulse. Then with a loud pop the room went dark signaling Cassie's own release from consciousness. Quickly setting her friend onto her bed Ranma worriedly called out, "Cassie… SOMEBODY HELP…"

Moments later a worried Janet burst into the room followed closely by the entirety of SG1. Spotting her daughter convulsing on the bed Janet briefly turned her attention to the frantic looking redhead next to her daughters prone form and quickly asked, "What happened?"

Wringing her hands in a futile gesture to keep the swelling panic in her chest from consuming her Ranma shot out, "I don't know… We were sitting here … I showed her my new technique… Then she kissed me… And I don't know…. She just started…."

"_Okay new technique with Ranma, that could very well be some sort of energy discharge given what I know him to be capable of… But how would it affect Cassie like this… Some how I don't think that Ranma would try to willingly hurt her as they have been nearly inseparable… Wait a sec…" _Doing a mental rewind while she knelt down next to her daughter Janet asked sharply_,_ "She kissed you???"

Sam who had been unknowingly been mirroring Janet's own thoughts of what sort of technique Ranma could have done that would have this type of effect on Cassie was brought out of her concentration at Janet's question. Frowning down at the very frightened looking redhead on the bed Sam visibly deflated she had been about to lay into Ranma something fierce for a second as her over protective aunt persona came out but seeing the redhead flinch under her gaze she allowed her expression to soften as she crouched down next to Janet and deflected her friend with, "How is she?"

Janet tearing her protective mothers gaze away from Ranma and back down to her daughter sighed and said, "I don't know… She's unconscious… I need to get her back to the infirmary…"

Jack flipped open his phone with ease to alert the SGC of their situation as he successfully resisted letting his mouth shoot off with some remark about so much for keeping the door open.

123454321

SGC infirmary

12345654321

"How's she doing?" Jack asked as he stepped into the room.

"Her fevers still climbing and she hasn't woken up yet." Sam stated as she shifted in her seat next to Cassie's bed to look up at the Colonel.

"Any chance that this is just a bad case of the flu?"

"No Sir." Janet stated as she set Cassie's medical chart down on a nearby desk. "That's what I thought initially because she had a temperature the night before last when she went to bed. But now I'm thinking that it's related to what is going on now."

"And that is?" Jack questioned as he made a hand motion for Janet to continue.

"Well…" Started off Janet slowly as she put her thoughts together, "We found evidence of a retro virus in Cassie's blood work, I'm not sure on what exactly it is doing yet but Sam thinks that it might be the reason behind the low level electromagnet field that Cassandra's cells have begun to produce. Unfortunately we can't do a MRI with her EM field spiking as it is we were forced to move her in here for the shielding this room offers so we wouldn't keep blowing out lights and equipment."

Jack, having moved to Cassandra's bedside looked up from the teen and over to the doctor and asked, "Could she have gotten something from Ranma? We know that the NID were doing stuff to Ranma… Then there's that new technique he mentioned…"

"I had thought so but after taking a look at Cassie's blood I ruled it out. Whatever Cassandra has its not contagious and she did not get it from Ranma, nor does it seem to be some sort of side affect from the new technique that Ranma came up with."

"Did anyone tell Ranma that?" Jack said as he glanced over to the door remembering that he had not seen Ranma in several hours.

"Oh just great…" Janet sighed as she rubbed her forehead, "I can't believe I forgot about her… err… I mean him." Looking down in embarrassment she explained, "The last thing I told Ranma was that I needed to draw a fresh sample of her blood to compare it to Cassandra's to see if he was carrying the retro virus."

"Carter?"

Shaking her head negatively Sam added, "I've been with Cassie or Janet the whole time and haven't seen Ranma at all."

"Well that's just dandy." Jack sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, "I guess I better go find the kid and tell him that it's not his fault… One more thing Doc… Did Ranma show you the technique?"

Shaking her head no Janet stated, "No, not yet, I ruled it out because Ranma's blood work showed no evidence of the retro virus in his system."

Sam nodded to Jack as he left the room feeling slightly torn between going with him to smooth things out with Ranma and wanting to stay by Cassie's bedside just in case the teen woke up. In the end though instead of rising out of her seat to follow the Colonel she had decided that it was more important to stay with Cassandra. Looking over to Janet she noticed that the worried mother had gone back to examining the chart probably in the hopes of finding something that she had missed in the countless times she had looked at it before. She was just about to open her mouth and try to consol her friend when she heard a slight rustling coming from the bed.

Janet hearing the rustling from her position a few feet away set the chart down again and moved closer, arriving at her daughters bedside just as the teens eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Mom…"

"I'm here Cassie." Janet reassured as she took her daughters hand.

"I couldn't finish the harvest…"

Glancing worriedly at Sam, Janet replied slowly, "That's okay honey…"

"I need to go into the forest…"

Sam, brushing away a few hairs away from Cassie's face and tried to reassure the seemly delirious teen with, "It's okay , Cassie."

123454321

A short time before

1234321

Teal'c had finally made his decision, he was going to confront Ranma and try to force the teen into facing his demons much like Master Bre'teck had done to him when he had felled victim to the manipulations of a false god. He knew he would have to alter his approach though as Ranma did not have a symbiote and thus could not undergo the same right he had. Briefly he had considered doing the same thing that had been eventually been done to his son to break him of Apophis's mind control but he was certain that electro shock with a Zat gun was not the way to go either.

So instead he found himself carrying along two practice staffs along the halls of the SGC on his way to the empty storage room that O'Neill had procured for the boy with the hopes that an actual physical confrontation would help the teen recover. At the same time though he hoped that what he had in mind would help set the teen at ease around him, because while Teal'c knew the benefits of being on alert he also knew that even a Jaffa had to set down his guard at some point otherwise there was too much potential to make a fatal mistake when placed into a dire situation. Having seen all of the video footage from the USB drive, he was under no delusions that he would walk away the victor in the fight but as his old master used to say, 'Sometimes you have to lose in order to win.'

Having arrived at the former storage room Teal'c brazenly swung the door open and stepped inside. After allowing the weight of the door to cause it to close itself he marched directly to the center of the room, paying no heed the rooms other occupant until he was in position. Ignoring the wary almost frightened look directed at his person Teal'c took a stance while throwing the other staff at the teens feet.

"What's that for?" Ranma asked nervously as she tried to fight against the NID ingrained instincts.

Teal'c while eyeing the teen over simply stated, "It is a staff for fighting. My people use it for training and to settle disputes."

Ranma still clad in the clothes from the night before began to dig her nails into her palms in a visual effort to remain where she was.

"I have seen the footage that was contained in the implant, you might not understand it but I know how desperately you wish to strike me down."

Shaking her head Ranma desperately replied, "No… That's not true… I don't… I'm not…"

"You do." Teal'c stated, "My mere presence causes you great unease and you wish nothing more that to give in to your feeling and slay me as you did those men at the cave."

"Nooo… Ranma replied as her voice cracked, "That was an accident… I didn't want to… They were going to…"

Taking a bold step forward Teal'c interjected, "It was no accident… You wanted to… You needed to… If not for your action you and Cassandra Frasier would have been hurt…"

Climbing slowly to her feet Ranma tried to slid slowly against the wall, hoping that she would be able to avoid the large man coming at her.

Taking a few quick steps Teal'c cut off the teens escape route and said, "You will not run from this… You will fight me."

"I don't want to… Please…" Ranma pleaded as she stumbled backwards.

Deciding that there had been enough idle talk Teal'c rushed forward and swung his staff at the small redhead causing her to stumble backwards into a roll that put the other staff directly behind her feet.

Ranma looked around wildly in hopes of an escape from the fight, unfortunately the large man was currently between her and the only exit. Stumbling backward as she tried to avoid the approaching man but her foot caught on the staff behind her feet, forcing her to lose her balance just as a strike was coming down upon her. Not having a choice Ranma thrust her arms out in an awkward off balanced attempt to block the blow.

Teal'c frowned to himself as he sent the petite redhead flying across the room, he had put all he had into that blow as he had witnessed secondhand through the video files what she was capable of. Currently though she was not showing even a measure of the power she held within her small frame. Knowing that it was too late to alter his course of action Teal'c pressing onward with his resolve and charged across the room, swinging his staff downward as he homed in on his target.

Ranma crashed into the wall with a grunt as her body finished its slide across the floor. Looking down at her shaking hands she tried to resist her programmed urges. She knew that there was something about the large man that made her want to attack him and rip him apart limb from limb but ever since waking up for the first time in the SGC she had been resisting those urges in the hopes that she would be able to understand what it was about the man that had her on constant alert.

Now though with him attacking her relentlessly that resolve to not attack that she had literally forced down upon herself was quickly crumbling away. Hearing the pounding of feet, signaling that the man was nearly upon her once more Ranma rolled back to her feet. Narrowly dodging another swing of the man's staff as the top button popped off her shirt from the heaving of her body in the tight constraining clothes, Ranma skidded back a few feet to allow some distance between them. Bringing one of her hands up to her now slightly open shirt Ranma frowned, She did not understand why the man was so insistent on fighting her, every one had said that he was one of the 'good guys'.

Teal'c stopped his advance when he saw the redhead fingering her shirt where it now appeared to be missing a button. For a moment he had thought he was getting through to her and that she was going to fight back then though he saw her eye's begin to well up. Deciding to prod the girl further before what ever resolve she still had crumbled away he taunted, "I was under the impression that you were strong… That you were a powerful warrior…" After pausing to allow a moment of silence to permutated throughout the room he continued with, "Perhaps I was wrong… Perhaps you are nothing more than you seem… A weak sniveling little girl afraid of her own shadow because she does not possess the fortitude…"

Ranma switched her gaze up to the man from her shirt where she had been staring at the spot the now missing button had once resided. Part of her wanted to run and hide from the man, not out of fear for him though, _"He's right… I am afraid… Not of him, but of myself… I'm afraid that once I start I won't be able to stop… That I'll lose myself and become… I'm not weak… Am I… No…" _Shaking her head in confusion Ranma tried to deny the man's words, "It's not true, I'm not weak…"

"Prove it to me Ranma Saotome… Let me see just a small measure of that strength that you supposedly possess." Teal'c taunted, hoping that he was finally getting through to the kid.

Ranma felt her resolve slipping away that she had placed upon herself since that night where she had woken up only to be covered in blood and guts from what she had thought to be the remains of Sheila's body. That night she had been consumed with grief over what she had done to her friend and by doing so played directly into the very hands that had been seeking to manipulate her. She had been still shrouded in that grief back in the cave and that blindness had nearly cost the two of them their virtue and their lives but at the last moment she had been able to set that aside after she allowed her rage to consume her over her betrayal and fear for her friend she had lashed out. In the times since and with the truths that had been revealed Ranma had been consigned to wallow in her own fears over what she was capable of.

Using her hands to slowly unbutton the somewhat restricting shirt Ranma's jaw hardened in determination she wasn't going to run from herself anymore. Sure she knew what she was capable of but she had always been capable, she had been trained in Martial arts her whole life and she was not going to let her fears of losing control dictate her life any longer. "_No…"_ She realized, "_The time to stop running has come… I need to fight back if I am ever going to be able to put this behind me."_

Teal'c arched his brow as he watched the redhead remove her shirt, fold it neatly and then place it by the wall so it would be out of the way. Momentarily he wondered if she was hoping for her black lace clad bosom to distract him enough for her to flee, but he shook his head at that thought. No, he could see her resolve firming as she stood before him once more with all signs of timid ness gone from her demeanor.

Popping her neck loudly Ranma said, "You wanted a fight… Cassie's friend or not, I'm going to give it to you."

Teal'c spared the teen no pleasantries as he was forced into the defensive. His opponent was a literal blur as he was sent sprawling to the ground having been unsuccessful in his attempts to dodge or block. Climbing back to his feet he began to swing the staff around in a sweeping motion that was meant to scatter approaching Jaffa.

"Nice try…" Ranma called out as she lashed out with another light kick that sent the large man back down to the floor.

Teal'c grunted in pain as he forced himself back to his feet and took a ready stance.

"_He's tough… And durable…More so than a lot of the people I've met at the various dojo's pops took me too…" _Ranma thought to herself as she circled lazily around the tall man, "_But I've seen and fought far tougher__… hell__ I probably could have taken him back when I was ten…" _

Having not had any real sparing since she had left her father Ranma decided to reign in more of her strength so that she would be able to draw the fight out longer.

Teal'c shook off his surprise at the fact that the teen seemed to be slowing down enough so that he would be able to keep up if just barely. Unlike the last time this time when the teen attacked he was able to muster up his defenses and brought the staff up for a block. Unfortunately for Teal'c it seemed that Ranma was not holding back as much with her strength. Feeling the staff break apart the sturdy Jaffa tried to recover by bringing the ends of it together and downward in hopes of catching the teen with a blow to her shoulders.

Ranma slid under the blow easily and brought her left foot forward landing another kick to the Jaffa's chest.

Teal'c backed away from the teen cradling his chest, the last blow having snapped several ribs that the symbiote was already well on its way repairing.

Ranma stood silently waiting for her opponent to make his next move, she was actually beginning to enjoy the spar, something that she hadn't done since her fateful fall into a seemingly harmless pool of water. Allowing a wry grin spread across her face she asked cockily, "You have enough?"

"I have." Teal'c stated in reply. Normally he might not have given in so easily but his point had been made and it seemed that the lesson had stuck. So, while he would not mind facing her as an opponent once more in the future, for now he had had enough. Plus her lacy clad breasts were serving to be a further distraction than he had realized, he was only a Jaffa after all. So with his mission a success Teal'c prepared to make his leave. After gathering up the two staff's he bowed formally and stated, "I thank you for the spar Ranma Saotome, I would like to do so again sometime."

Ranma returned the bow but remained silent as her former opponent left, caught totally off guard that the man had ended the fight just when it had been getting good. Although she had enjoyed it once her hesitation had subsided Ranma realized that there was still something off about the man that she could not place, something that had to do with the visions the device had forced upon her. For now though she could push those thoughts aside to focus that she had won the spar thus showing herself that while the man was dangerous she was still capable of handling herself without having to resort to lethal force. Walking over to her shirt she picked it up and began to put it back on, hoping that she would be able to fix the damage done to it without Cassie knowing about it.

At the mere thought of Cassie though Ranma frowned and plopped herself back into the corner, pulling her knee's up to her chest for support. While she knew a big weight had been lifted from her shoulders there were still a few things that had her distressed. Sure the spar had helped take her mind off of it for a time but afterwards Cassie was still sick in the infirmary and it was very possible that it was her fault. Feeling wetness beginning to form in her eyes Ranma hung her head and allowed herself to cry because although she was feeling better she still had a lot of pent up emotions running through her system and sometimes according to Sheila you just had to cry.

123454321

A short time later

12343212

"Hey Ranma you in here?" Jack called as he pushed the door to the storage room open. Not hearing an immediate response he added, "Just came by to see how you're doing…"

Ranma still clad in the clothes from the fight before looked up from her position in the corner, using her sleeve to wipe away the tear marks from her face she sighed sadly, "It wasn't supposed to hurt her… I just wanted to show her that I was more than some pathetic weak willed monster…"

After crossing the room Jack came to a halt a few feet away from the troubled teen, sliding down the wall so he was sitting next to her he stated, "It didn't… "

"But Doctor…"

"Ranma, it's not your fault, there are some things that we do here that have a tendency to bite us in the ass. What ever is happening to Cassie could have been caused by any number of things, Doctor Frasier just had to check your blood to rule you out." Seeing the currently redheaded teen visibly relax a little Jack added, "But in the future perhaps you shouldn't use Cassie to test out your new techniques."

Ranma nodded grateful for the knowledge that Cassie's sudden illness wasn't her fault but winced again as she mentally chastised herself for letting her interact with an unproven technique.

"Sooo…" Jack started slowly as he reached into his pocket to fish out his yo-yo, "You told Janet that it was supposed to heal?"

Nodding Ranma softly replied, "Yeah, but it didn't work… Otherwise Cassie wouldn't have gotten sick after touching it. "

Shrugging as he took a few practice swings Jack said, "You're a pretty special kid Ranma, and you have all these cool special powers, maybe healing just isn't one of them."

Horrified at the mere thought that she was incapable of doing something positive despite all her gifts Ranma shook her head in denial while exclaiming, "I have to be able to… I need to be able to…"

Thinking back to his dead son Jack replied soberly, "We don't always get what we need or want, that's just how things go Ranma." Noting that the teen was starting to look even more crestfallen he added, "That doesn't mean that you should stop trying though… It just means that you should be more careful and make sure that you have all the kinks worked out before you go and try using it…" After a few minutes of comfortable silence, broken only by the occasional whizzing of his yo-yo Jack glanced down at his watch and grimaced. After collecting the yo-yo back in his hand after it completed its latest cycle and stuffing it in his pocket he rose to his feet and yawned, "Well Ranma, I think it's just about time to go get some grub, why don't you go back to your room and wash up and I'll come by in a few after I go check on Daniel…" Pausing to stretch his arms Jack added, "Then afterwards I'm sure the Doc wouldn't mind if you went and kept Cassie company."

"Cassie's awake…" Ranma exclaimed as she rose to her feet within the blink of an eye.

"Not yet… But I'll bet she'd like to see a friend when she does… Hey where'd you go?" Jack asked lamely as he looked around the now empty storage room before shrugging and making his way to Daniel's lab to collect him for lunch.

123454321

SGC briefing room after lunch

1234321

"Do I need to quarantine off the Facility?"

"I don't think so, General. None of the others that have been interacting with Cassandra on a regular basis as of late have shown any sign of the retro virus in our blood." Janet replied as she folded her hands nervously on her lap in an attempt to not show the General how worried she was for her daughter.

"Do we know where it came from?" General Hammond asked plainly.

"I'm guessing her home planet." Janet stated unsurely.

"Cassandra has not been on that planet in four years… Would it not make more sense that perhaps Ranma Saotome might…" Teal'c said carefully while he ever so slightly adjusted himself in his seat as he waited for Junior to finish healing him from his spar with Ranma

"No… I checked his blood first…" Janet said shooting Teal'c an sympathetic look before continuing, "What I mean to say when I say that I believe it to be that Cassandra contracted the Virus on her home planet is that I have never seen anything quite like this before. It is possible for a retro Virus to remain idle for years before becoming active."

"I just finished going through SG-7's, err, reports from P8X-987…" Daniel announced as he made his way into the room and over to the video equipment.

Jack shaking his head over the fact that Daniel had just entered the room and not bothered to acknowledge anyone greeted the man with, "Daniel…"

After a few moments of fumbling with the equipment to queue up the video Daniel replied, "Jack…" Finally looking over the room Daniel shifted awkwardly before clearing his throat and starting anew, "In the three months that SG-7 were on Cassie's planet there were two reported cases of high fevers with hallucinations in teenagers Cassandra's age. The local villagers called it the mind fire. I've managed to find some video footage among their reports." Pressing play Daniel stepped back and allowed the first few minutes of footage to play out. Once it reached the relevant point the then paused it and continued, "There's more to it… But… Well you get the general idea."

Frowning in concern Sam asked, "How did they treat it?"

Sitting down at the table Daniel sighed, "SG-7 offered medicine but they turned it down. The village elders believed that these children were touched by the gods, and that interfering would tempt retribution."

Setting down the pen he had been using to make doodles Jack looked up and asked, "What happened to them?"

Glancing over the room Daniel replied, "They were sent into the forest nearby the village by themselves…" Allowing himself a slight pause at the look that Sam and Janet had spared each other at his mention of forest Daniel continued a bit more slowly with, "After several days they came back cured."

"Any idea on how they came back cured?" General Hammond asked from the head of the table.

"No… SG-7 tried to find out, but the elders insisted the child had to make the journey alone as some sort of religious rite."

"Cassandra mentioned going into the forest…" Janet stated softly as she mulled the situation over in her head.

Shaking his head in disbelief Jack added, "Yeah but you yourself said she was delirious at the time."

Wanting desperately to find a cure for both of her friends sake Sam countered, "Still… It's worth checking out, Sir."

"When we were last on P8X-987, the atmosphere had been contaminated by the Goa'uld Nirrti.." Teal'c stated as he reminded everyone of the potential danger in returning to that planet.

Folding up his papers neatly Jack made a show to look at the general as if he was anticipating his words.

Nodding to his second in Command he said, "We'll send a MALP first, if the atmosphere is clear then you have a go."

123454321

Sitting at Cassie's bedside, clad in air force sweats, Ranma tried to keep himself as silent as possible so as to not break Doctor Frasier's concentration as she worked tiredly towards finding a cure to her daughters predicament. Glancing at a clock he held back a sigh, so far he had been in the room for three hours and while he was perfectly okay with being there for his friend the silence was starting to make him a bit uneasy.

Janet set the folder down with a silent growl of frustration while she rubbed the tiredness from her eyes. _"It's not like looking at this is going to help any. I've been over this folder a thousand times and committed every ounce of information to memory. Sitting around like this is not going to help me get any closer to helping Cassandra…" _Pushing herself away from the desk Janet spared the rooms other two occupants with a quick glance. Standing up she idly wondered how Ranma could bear to sit absolutely still like he had, if she didn't know better she would have sworn that the teen hadn't moved at all.

Approaching the teen slowly with her heals breaking the eerie silence of the room with a steady click clack Janet asked, "Do you want anything from the mess hall?"

"No I'm fine." Ranma replied quietly not wanting to wake his sleeping friend.

"I'll be back in a few minutes then…" Pointing to a small remote attached to a cord Janet instructed, "If anything happens press the big button on there that says call and Nurse Hopkins will be in to take care of it."

Ranma nodded in replied before asking, "What about if she wakes up?"

Janet switched her gaze over to the flickering monitors that were doing their best to keep track of Cassie's vitals despite the EM field that the girl was putting out and almost considered telling Ranma that he could hold off on calling the nurse if Cassandra woke up in the end though she decided that her daughters health was too important and said, "I still want you to call in the nurse. I'll tell her if there's no immediate concern to stand off a bit and let the two of you be… Okay."

"Yes ma'am." Ranma answered.

Making her way out the door Janet called out, "I'll be right back."

1234321

Hearing slight movement in the bed at his side Ranma glanced at the clock, Cassie's mom had only just left a few minutes ago and it seemed his friend was about to wake up. Reaching over he depressed that call button to notify the nurse and then nervously shuffled in his seat while staring at his friends face waiting for her eyes to flicker open.

Though her unfocused haze as she flickered her eyes open Cassie saw a fuzzy mass hovering next to her. Not yet knowing who it was she pleaded, "I need to go into the forest…"

Having depressed the call button for the nurse immediately once Cassie's eyes had open Ranma was at a temporary loss as to what he was supposed to say. He did not really understand why she would want to go into the woods, especially as sick as she was.

Not hearing anything in response Cassie repeated her request adding as much desperation conveyed in her voice that she could manage, "Please I need to go into the forest I have to go back…"

Shaking his head Ranma tried to explain, "Cassie you're very sick your mother will be back soon…"

"I need to go back… I have to go into the forest…" Cassie repeated desperately.

"Back where? Cassie." Ranma replied softly as he noticed the nurse entering the room.

Nurse Hopkins had been set to observe Cassie's health from the doorway as at first look there was no immediate concern for Cassandra's health but upon hearing what young Miss Frasier was saying to the other teen she realized that she had to take action before Ranma was told the truth about Cassandra's origins. Taking quick purposeful steps over to the nurses tray where they were keeping the sedatives she tried to prepare a likely story about why she had needed to sedate the teen.

"I need to go back… Please… You don't understand…"

"I want to Cassie. but I don't understand, Back where? You're safe here, your mother is going to make you all better…" Ranma tried again not understanding what Cassie was trying to tell him. Spotting the Nurse approaching with a syringe Ranma turned to her and asked, "What are you giving her?"

"Just something to help the poor girl sleep." Nurse Hopkins tried to assure the teen with a smile as she emptied the syringe's contents into the IV.

Cassie suddenly feeling really tired tried one last act of desperation, reaching up with her hands she clasped onto Ranma's arm as tight as she could manage and pleaded one last time, "I need to go back to Hanka.. My… Home.. Plane….t…"

Ranma shook his head, the whole situation seemed off to him for some reason but it appeared that Cassie was obviously delirious from her fever. Lightly brushing away Cassie's hair from her face he gave the nurse a slightly suspicious look wondering if a sedative had really been necessary.

123454321

Twenty minutes later

12321

Janet stepped into the room after talking briefly with Nurse Hopkins having just been informed that it had been necessary to sedate Cassie before the delirious girl spilled the beans about the Stargate program. As things were, if not for the general consensus among the majority of people on earth, the little information her daughter had already disclosed might have been enough to make Ranma suspicious. Unfortunately the only thing that she could think of to keep Ranma ignorant of the Stargate program until Cassandra was aware enough to keep her secrets to herself was to bar Ranma from visiting.

Making her way over to Cassandra's bedside Janet tried to examine Ranma's features looking for any inkling of suspicion in the teen's eyes. Not seeing any either way Janet set down her coffee on a nearby table and picked up Cassandra's chart. Making her way over towards the bed while idly flipping through the chart Janet started to test the waters to see if Ranma had any suspicions, "The nurse said that Cassie woke up for a few moments… Did she say anything?"

Ranma slowly shook his head no as he thought about what to say. He was relatively sure that there was something suspicious going on with how readily the nurse sedated Cassie but besides being obviously delirious he was not sure what it was.

"Did she mention going into the forest?" Janet inquired trying to sound as casual as she could not wanting Ranma to connect any dots.

"Yeah… I guess, she mentioned something about a forest and going home too…"

After burning the twinge of guilt over what she was about to say Janet said, "She's been having some delusions from the fever, if she has any more of them try to go along with them… It's best not to get her worked up…"

"Okay…" Ranma replied softly after he turned back to keep his silent vigil at his friends bedside.

After making a few more notes about Cassandra's currant vital signs Janet turned away and frowned at having to discredit her daughter so, but she realized that she really had no choice in the matter as Ranma was not an American citizen and had not been cleared to know about the Stargate even with all that had happened to him.

Sitting down at her desk Janet sighed, SG1 was not due to check in for eight hours and she had no idea on what to do in the meantime to try to stop the changes from running rampant through her daughter's body.

12345654321

Roughly eight hours later

1234321

Janet rubbed her eyes again as she went over more test results that failed to give her an idea of how to fight the retro virus that was wagging war within her adopted daughters body. Hearing a noise at the door she sighed and tiredly stated, "Ranma I told you to go back to your room and get some sleep…"

"From the looks of things I don't think Ranma is the only one who should get some sleep." Sam stated with concern as she made her way into the room and noticed her friend's tired looking appearance.

"I'll get plenty of sleep once I figure out how to help Cassandra." Janet stated with grim determination as she rose out of her seat to stretch.

"Janet…" Sam started to sigh worriedly.

"I've had to sedate Cassie to keep her from talking to Ranma." Janet said interrupting what Sam had been about to say.

Blinking in surprise at the revelation Sam asked, "Why?"

Laughing bitterly Janet replied, "As much as what our nation has done to the teen he is still not cleared to know about the Stargate. Cassandra was delirious and had almost spilled the beans once already. So I told Ranma to go get some sleep and come back later so I wouldn't have to keep knocking Cassie out when she woke up."

"He means well…" Sam offered politely not sure what of which had her friend more annoyed.

"I know…" Janet answered with another drawn out sigh, "It's just that I am thinking more and more that we should just tell him. Who knows it might actually help him understand some of what he was seeing in the images that he was being force fed through the implant."

Shrugging helplessly Sam responded, "It's not up to us though…"

"Yeah, you're right…" Switching the subject Janet added, "You're back… Did you find anything?"

Nodding Sam started, "We found a lab that Daniel believes to have belonged to Nirrti, he's still back there searching the lab with Teal'c and the Colonel."

With hope blossoming on her face Janet asked, "Was there anything left behind that could help me create a cure?"

"I'm not sure." Sam replied with a frown before adding, "I just came back with the preliminary findings, Daniel hasn't really had a chance to translate much. But he did find reference to something called a Hok'Tar."

"Hok'Tar?" Janet repeated slowly.

"It's Goa'uld, Hok meaning advanced, and Tar meaning human." Sam explained.

"I didn't know you spoke Goa'uld…" Janet replied as she mulled over what Sam had just told her.

"I don't…" Sam answered slightly embarrassed, "I'm just repeating what Daniel said. From what he translated so far we were able to determine that Nirrti was using Cassandra's people as a long term experiment to create genetically enhanced hosts."

Looking over to another set of folders on the desk Janet said, "So she was trying to make a super host… Some one like Ranma?"

"Janet?" Sam questioned.

"Well technically Ranma is an advanced human… He could have something in his DNA that keeps his body from burning up from all the energy that he channels."

"I thought you already checked that." Sam stated.

"I did..." Janet started with a renewed purpose as she made her way over to collect Ranma's medical records that she had left on the far end of the table. "But that was before I knew what to look for."

"What are you looking for?" Sam asked as she moved in closer.

"We know that Ranma has advanced abilities that we have not been able to explain… Abilities that should be impossible for him to be able to do. There has to be something different about his DNA allowing him to be able to do what he does. " Janet said while collecting the files and starting out of the room at a brisk pace.

"But both you and the NID have been over Ranma's DNA with a fine toothed comb and haven't found anything." Sam stated as she kept pace with her friend.

"But that was before we knew what to look for." Janet said coming to a stop and facing her friend.

"What are you looking for?"

"A gene, one that is present in both Ranma and Colonel O'Neill."

"Why Colonel O'Neill?" Sam asked as she tried to put the puzzle pieces together herself.

"According to the Asguard our Colonel is one of the most advanced humans on the planet. I'm thinking that there has to be some sort of connection between the two, whether or not the colonel's gene is more advanced than Ranma's I'm hoping that if I compare their DNA to each other I'll be able to identify it."

"But the Colonel has never even shown an inkling of being able to do what Ranma can… Nor has Cassie for that matter."

"I know…" Replied Janet with a sigh, "It's a stretch and I'm grasping at straws but it's the best I can think of at the moment."

123454321

The next day

12321

"Find anything?" Daniel asked softly as he stepped into the lab.

Tiredly rubbing her eyes as she looked up from the microscope Janet replied, "I'm not sure. I've been going over the two samples for several hours and have found six genetic markers that they have in common that I can identify and four that I can't. Five of the six markers that they have in common can be traced back to having European ancestry…"

"Uhmm… Janet, Ranma's Japanese." Daniel interjected carefully.

"Japanese with red hair as a girl and blue eyes in either form, meaning that he had to have some sort of mixed ancestry at some point. From the looks of things I'd guess great grandparent.." Janet interjected quickly before adding, "Anyway, as I was saying they have five of the same markers tying them into a common European ancestry probably Irish given the Colonel's lineage. The sixth one is a recently discovered marker that is found with those of a Middle Eastern ancestry, probably Jewish but I won't know for sure until the doctor publishes his full findings." Taking in a deep breath she continued with, "Then there are the four that I haven't been able to identify yet. It could be any one of them or a combination of the ten that they have in common. Or it could be one that's just present in Ranma, to rule those out though I'd have to have access to a family members DNA as well as a few others of Japanese descent not to mention the months I would need to go over everything to rule things out."

Stepping fully into the room Daniel stated with concern, "Aren't you putting a lot of faith into an offhand statement made by the Asgaurd." Shooting his hands up in a placating gesture he quickly added, "Don't get me wrong, I'm as big as a fan of the Asgaurd as the next guy but it seems you're putting all your hope into this."

"Daniel…" Janet started tiredly as she placed her palms down onto the table before her, "Even with the data that you and the others brought back from Hanka I'm months away from finding a means to help Cassie, months I don't have. That is if there is anything there to begin with as so far it just seems to just be a mess genetic samples that I can't even begin to hope to identify in time, meaning that the only one that could possibly help Cassandra is Nirrti and even if we were able to find her I doubt she'd help. No this is the best way, I might not be able to stop what ever it is from happening to her but maybe I can make it so that she will live long enough so that I can."

After taking a few more steps towards Janet, Daniel cam to a stop while placing his hand on the smaller woman's shoulder, "I know you're worried that you won't be able to help her but we can find a way to stop this. This route… trying to help what ever is happening along… You said it yourself, there could be countless combinations if any of the ones you've been able to identify are the ones you actually need. What happens if you pick the wrong one or even worse what happens if you pick the right one and it still doesn't help Cassie… What then?"

Breaking down into tears of frustration over her desperation to help her daughter Janet clutched tightly onto the archeologist and cried, "I don't know… I have to do something… I've been through all the data, if there was someone else who had already been cured of this then I'd be able to make a counter virus but all off Cassandra's people are dead… Incinerated because of the potential risk of the disease that Nirrti laid upon them… There's no one left but Cassie… This is the best I can do…. I don't want to, especially knowing that I'd be painting a bull's-eye on her back to the NID if I succeeded but this is my best hope… I'll have to worry about the rest when it comes to it…"

Daniel stood there silently for a few minutes while he wrapped his arms around the distraught woman. The reason for his silence was that he wasn't sure as to what he could say to her to lift her spirits. He knew she was searching desperately for a means to save her daughter but he did not really agree with her latest idea. He felt that it was too risky and if successful would be a large burden on the girl that he wasn't sure she could handle after having already been through so much. After all he knew first hand about how knowledge and power could be easily corrupted thanks to Shifu and was worried about Cassie attaining that level of power and becoming driven by revenge over what had happened to her first family. Of course he was sure that Ranma hadn't yet fallen victim to that urge despite the NID's best efforts but Ranma was different, he had been raised and matured into the level of strength that he had and not had it thrust upon him. Feeling the woman in his arms start to slide out of his embrace Daniel put on a sad smile and started to say, "I'm sorry Janet… I'm just worried about Cassie… I stopped by to check in on her before I came to see you and… She was awake, sitting there … Spinning a chess piece in mid air… Using her mind to move the piece."

"I know." Janet replied softly as she finished withdrawing herself from Daniel, "I was merely acting on a hunch before but she started to display those abilities a few hours ago after waking up. I'm convinced that I'm on the right track." Pointing over to a folder she continued with, "I've already been through her DNA and compared it for any similarities with Ranma or Colonel O'Neill and haven't been able to find anything as of yet. Meaning that while this virus is changing her DNA it's not adding any new genes so if I can find the right gene and it does what I think it'll do…"

Daniel nodded abruptly wondering why Janet had just trailed off. Noticing that the short woman's gaze was now traveling past him he slowly turned around not expecting to see Cassandra leaning heavily against the door frame in her hospital gown.

"Mom…" Cassie muttered quietly as she tried to make her way into the room.

"Cassie… What are you doing here… You should be in bed…" Janet stated worriedly as she made her way forward to steady her daughter.

"I…" Cassie started weakly as she looked down to the floor not wanting to say that she had been lonely and wanted company.

Seeing the lights surging Janet turned to Daniel and asked, "Can you give me a hand bringing her back to her room…" feeling an objection coming from her daughter she preemptively added, "Don't worry hun, I'll stay with you until Colonel O'Neill brings Ranma back."

"Where'd Ranma go?" Cassie asked as she was reluctantly led back to her room.

Sighing softly Janet reminded her daughter, "I had to keep him preoccupied because you were delirious and were in danger of exposing the Stargate to him. So after the nurse sedated you I sent Ranma off to bed and then spoke to Colonel O'Neill to keep him distracted for awhile until you were aware enough to not mention anything to him about the truth of where you come from."

Cassie nodded reluctantly and replied, "I know… I just wish I could tell him… It'd be nice if I didn't have to hide…"

"I know honey…" Janet said softly, "But that's a decision for a later date. Right now we need to keep you focused on getting better."

Having arrived at her bed Cassie nodded again while she was assisted back into the bed with help from both Daniel and her mother. "I know mom… I just can't believe that 4 years after she wiped out everyone else that she's managed to…" awkwardly motioning with her arms Cassie continued, "Finish me off…"

"Don't talk like that sweetie. I'll find away to save you… I promise…" Janet interrupted passionately hoping to reassure both herself and her daughter.

"You're mothers right." Daniel added bringing the teen's attention to himself, "But you just need to do your best to hang in there in the meantime." Looking briefly down at his watch he added, "I have to get back to translating some of the notes we found in Nirrti's lab… So if you'll excuse me I have work to do..."

123454321

"I don't know…" Ranma stated as she browsed through the store while looking for a small get well gift for Cassie, "I… Err… Why can't I have just stayed there and waited for her to wake up and then went and got something for her later, when she was doing better…"

"Ranma…" Jack replied, "Just trust me on this, besides it would be counter productive to get her a get well soon gift when she was better." Throwing a companionable arm around the petite redhead Jack added in a conspiring whisper, "Besides girls love this type of stuff…"

"Colonel…" Sam sighed having heard the last bit of advice her superior had given Ranma, "It's not just girls that like it. It's a thoughtful gesture that everyone appreciates not just girls."

Squeezing Ranma's shoulder lightly Jack added, "She's just saying that because she's a girl…"

"Colonel…" Sam hissed jokingly knowing full well that he was just playing around, well at least she hoped that he was playing around.

"Kidding… Carter… Ranma knows that I was just playing around... I mean come, on every one appreciates a get well soon gift…"

Ranma blinked, she actually had not known that Jack had just been joking around with her but upon hearing that she felt more than a little relieved at her own inner thoughts of wishing that someone sometime would have done the same for her.

Spotting something off out of the corner of his eye Jack extracted his arm from around Ranma and announced, "I'll be right back…"

Sam sighed to herself as the colonel wandered off to the video section and said, "Come on Ranma lets go this way…"

"What about Jack?" Ranma asked in reply as she glanced around nervously not really liking Jack leaving her alone. Sure she had been around Sam several times but for the most part her most steadfast visitor besides Cassie had been Jack as he usually found some excuse to stop by and check on her.

Sighing as she realized that Ranma was still really uncomfortable around people, Sam stepped in closer to the redhead and set a comforting arm on the girls shoulder while wondering, how the sometimes girl had made it as far as she had into the store without looking like a nervous wreck. Then it hit her that Ranma must have been either putting on a front for Jacks sake or been distracted. Shaking her head as she considered the cause being more likely the former than the latter Sam said, "Actually why don't we go get the colonel first then I'll show you a few things that Cassie would like."

1234321

"Perfect." Jack muttered to himself as he turned the DVD box set over in his hands, "Ranma will love this."

"Colonel…"

Jumping slightly at hearing Carters voice so close Jack to a moment to glare halfheartedly at his XO before stating, "Geeze Carter…. What are you trying to do give me a heart attack?"

Holding back a snort of amusement Sam replied innocently, "No not at all sir…"

Giving the Major a stern mock glare Jack added cheekily, "What's the matter miss me already? I'd said I'd be right back, just thought Ranma here might like something entertaining to watch instead of those dull books that you and Danny have been feeding her."

Sighing as the Colonel held up a star wars special edition box set Sam said, "There's nothing wrong with Ranma reading books in her spare time."

Sensing that he was moments away from striking a nerve with his favorite Major, Jack quickly backpedaled and added, "Never said there was… Just trying to expand Ranma's horizons a bit… I mean come on, Lost civilizations of the world? The Collapse of an Empire… I'm sure there're great reads but Ranma should have something effortless to do and…" Brandishing the box set in his hands like some sort of ancient treasure, "What could be more effortless that sitting down and enjoying an epically classical collection like this."

"Epically Classical?" Sam muttered to herself as she turned her attention to Ranma.

Ranma whom had been trying to focus on her center as she heard the last part was about to interject and say that she liked those two books as anything was better than just staring at a wall waiting to fall asleep at night, but quickly changed her mind as she spotted yet another person staring at her. Feeling really uncomfortable with how he and several other guy's around her age were looking at her Ranma stepped in closer to Jack and Sam hoping that their closer proximity would act as a buffer.

"Something wrong Ranma?" Sam asked softly as she took in the increasingly nervous vibe that the teen was putting out.

Feeling rather foolish that a bunch of people staring at her was making her feel that uncomfortable Ranma shook her head negatively and muttered, "No… It's nothing."

Giving the redhead a worried look Sam stated, "Ranma relax, you can trust us. We're here to help you."

Sighing in defeat Ranma mumbled, "It's just that…" Taking in a deep breath Ranma continued, "I keep seeing these guy's staring at me…"

"Where?" Jack hissed as his hand automatically began to reach for his side arm.

"Sir…" Sam warned cautiously not wanting the Colonel to pull out his sidearm in such a public place unless he absolutely had too.

"Relax Carter, Just stretching my hand out a bit." Jack said as he covertly glanced about the store looking for any suspicious persons that he might have failed to notice.

Following Ranma's slightly nervous gaze to the group of boys standing twenty feet away and then looking back at the redhead Sam sighed, she had not even thought that this would be a problem. Perhaps she should not have insisted that Ranma change out of the somewhat concealing air force sweats and into one of the outfits Cassie had picked out. At the time it had seemed like a good idea as the last thing they wanted to do was have Ranma outwardly connected to the air force even if it was by proxy. To that extent both she and the colonel had worn their civilian clothes out of the mountain, giving themselves the outward appearance of just a normal family out at the store. Despite her blush at the thought of her and the Colonel being more than the close nit friends and loyal teammates Sam knew that just simply changing clothes and using a rental car would not be enough to hide from whatever possible NID threat was out there. At least with Ranma dressed as a normal teenage girl though she should be able to hopefully blend into the background better should something start to happen.

Now though, as she took in the tight t-shirt and low hanging pants the teen was wearing Sam wished she could slap herself without bringing even more attention their way. Doctor McKenzie had mentioned that there was a good possibility of Ranma feeling insecure about his or her own sexual identity should he be placed into a situation where he was stuck in the role of a female with a lot of other teen boys his age around him.

Gently placing her hand on the teens arm she said, "Let's just go this way, pick up a quick gift for Cassie and get out of here."

"Okay… I guess…" Jack said worriedly as he continued to covertly glance around in the hopes of spotting any potential threats.

Sensing her commanders confusion Sam added, "You don't need to worry sir… I'll explain later but there's no NID around…" Thinking about the last part she had said Sam corrected herself, "At least none that we are aware of…"

12321

A few hours later

12321

Ranma stared at the board in front of her as she witnessed Cassie move another piece effectively trapping her king in check mate. The fact that her friend was moving said piece without the use of her hands had the current redhead's mind more curious on how her friend was doing so and not on the fairly quick game that they had just finished playing.

"Check mate." Cassie announced with a frown as she won for the sixth time in a row in nearly twenty minutes. "Come on Ranma what's the matter? It's like you're not even trying."

Looking up to meet Cassie's eyes with a sheepish expression on her face Ranma apologized, "Sorry… I just keep getting distracted with trying to think up a way for me to be able to do that too."

Watching while her friend lean back into the bed and hugging the small brown bear to her chest that she had picked out for her Ranma realized her folly and apologized, "I'm sorry Cassie… I didn't mean to…"

Sighing as she straitened up a bit Cassie interjected, "It's okay Ranma, I know that you didn't mean anything by it… I'm just really tired that's all…"

Frowning to herself for bringing on a somber mood Ranma tried to lighten Cassie's spirits and said, "You'll get better, I just know it… I mean everyone say's that your mom is a miracle worker so how hard can it be, she'll have a cure ready for you in no time."

Cassie mentally shook her head, she knew that her mother was a great doctor but she had also overheard some of what she had told Daniel and knew that the situation was much more dire than what Ranma knew, that there was a very distinct possibility that she would not live through the week. Not wanting to face her own mortality at the moment Cassie tried to switch the subject and asked, "So how did your first outing outside of the base go… Wish I could have went with you, we could have had a lot of fun."

Nervously wracking her hands on her lap Ranma tried to put off answering by deflecting with, "Technically it was my second trip away from the base. Besides it's not like I haven't been to places before, I did spend a lot of time with my pops traveling from town to town learning martial arts."

"True…" Cassie conceded, "But that was in Japan and China, It's a whole different country out there." Truthfully though, Cassie was slightly depressed over the fact that she had not been with Ranma on his first outing into Colorado Springs. She supposed that it was selfish of her but when she had first came to earth and after her near death and subsequent adoption she had been absolutely astounded over all the neat and interesting things she saw in one small area and that was a wonder she had wanted to explore with Ranma despite her knowledge that the teen was not an alien in the same sense as her.

"I guess you're right…" Ranma admitted with a shiver as she tried to block out the memory of seemingly everyone staring at her.

Seeing her friend shiver Cassie immediately became concerned and asked, "Ranma are you cold?" Blushing as she said it she added, "You can move up here with me if you want to…" Now fumbling over her words as she tried to continue her predetermined course of action Cassie hastily tacked on, "That way we can share my blanket."

"Uhmm.. I'm not… I don't know…" Ranma drawled out unsurely not wanting to mention to Cassie the real reason for her shiver. Looking around the room nervously she asked, "What if someone say's something?"

"What are they going to say? We're just too friends getting comfortable and staying warm. Besides it's not like I'm contagious or anything."

1234321

"I'm back… And I brought…" Jack announced as he entered Cassie's room only to trail off at the sight of the two girls sleeping soundly in the same bed. Momentarily a dark cloud of confusion crossed over his face as he mentally debated separating his adopted niece away from the boy and leaving the two girls comfortably sleeping in the same bed alone to get some much needed rest after what was for the both of them a rather stressful day. In the end he decided that he would let them be for the time being since there was nothing inappropriate looking going on. Setting the prized Star Wars box set off to the side on a nearby table Jack silently approached the girls and shook his head. Gently reaching out with his hands be began to carefully remove Ranma's shoes so as to not wake the slumbering teen. Once that was done Jack then adjusted the blanket noting with a nod of approval that Cassie and Ranma despite their close proximity were still separated by a layer of bedding.

Looking back at Teal'c who had been standing at the doorway holding a vast array of snacks and the DVD player Jack sighed, knowing full well that the Jaffa had been looking forward to a mini marathon and that somehow he would have to make it up to him. Already he could see the miniscule signs of disappointment showing through his friends features, "_Well actually…" _Jack amended, "_It's kinda more like a small twitch of the brow really." _Shaking his head as he heard the sounds of labored breathing coming from behind his stalwart teammate Jack rolled his eyes. Motioning for Teal'c to put the DVD player down on the small table next to the Box set Jack made his way into the hall and quietly hissed, "For Christ's sake Siler it's just a small TV it's not that heavy, I can hear you twenty feet away… There are girls trying to sleep in there…"

Siler stared at the Colonel in disbelief, sure the TV wasn't that heavy especially for a twenty seven inch one, but after lugging it around the base for the past half hour while the Colonel looked for a bigger TV he was feeling fairly fatigued. _"At least I was able to talk him out of having me remove the projection TV from the conference room, General Hammond wouldn't have been happy at that."_

Shaking his head at the Noncom Jack moved to the side and continued in a soft tone, "Set it down inside the room over by the far wall."

Nodding his head the Master sergeant started to enter the room but was cut off with one last word from the Colonel.

"Oh and Siler…"

"Yes Colonel?"

"You didn't see anything in that room. Okay?" Jack warned not wanting to let the innocent scene inside to be twisted into some wild fantasy circulating among the enlisted. Not that he thought Siler would have said anything as the noncom was a fairly good man, if maybe a bit clumsy, which had earned him a place in his will as the recipient of his treasured Simpson's collection, "_Still though… It's better safe then sorry… Don't need to be reading about Cassie on the men's room wall.."_

Siler simply nodded, he wouldn't have said anything regardless of the Colonels warning but just incase temptation reared its ugly head he kept his eyes glued to the wall and did not even spare the rooms occupants a cursory glance.

1234321

Nirrti walked through the bland grey corridors of the Tau'ri base with a pensive look on her face that was unseen to the Tau'ri thanks to her personal cloaking device. She had been in the middle of assembling her remaining resources after having lost most of them to Chronos after her attempt on his life and her subsequent imprisonment. It was during her consolidation of her now dwindling resources that she had noticed an alarm going of signifying that someone had entered one of her old labs. Further investigation led her to realize that it was coming from the abandoned facility on Hanka. Knowing that she had cleansed the population with the exception of one girl whom she had turned into a living bomb as a trap for the Tau'ri had her mildly curious.

So after making her way to the nearest Stargate, the former system lord made her way to her currently occupied lab to see what had set off her alarm.

Upon her arrival Nirrti had noticed one of those mechanical Tau'ri probes sitting near the gate. At that she almost turned around and retreated back to her current base but then she began to think about why the Tau'ri would come back after four years. Then it hit her, the girl whom she had hoped to destroy them four years ago must have begun to enter the stage where she entered the rite. Deciding that the possible data was well worth the possible risk to herself, Nirrti, hidden from sight thanks to her personal cloaking device decided to spy on and follow the Tau'ri.

So she had ringed down to her lab and observed them, taking mental notes as they slowly revealed that her suspicions had been correct. With that in mind she continued her silent lurking and followed them back through the Stargate to check on her former project herself.

Despite her familiarity with the base she had opted to continue following the members of SG1. Unfortunately the blond female was nowhere to be seen which left her trailing closely behind the three males as they passed through a door reading locker room. Minutes later a semi pleased looking Nirrti exited silently through the doors, and if anyone would have asked her at that moment if she would destroy the earth given a chance, she would reply, definitely, just not until after she claimed a few trophies for her enjoyment.

Leaving the locker room behind her the fallen system lord struck out on her own to locate the infirmary and check on one of her former experiments.

At first, after she had finally found the right lab, Nirrti had been content in just watching what the Tau'ri were trying to do but after several interruptions that occurred over the span of the past day and a half of her alternating her attention between periodically checking in on the ignorant female Tau'ri doctor's progress and gathering as much information as she could from the Tau'ri computers, she decided to check on the situation one last time before she decided if it was time to leave lest she stay longer and risk discovery. She had already done so several times already and had been silently amused by the audacity of what the sole human occupant had been attempting to do. This time though that amusement turned to astonishment, ever so briefly, when the woman left the room once more giving her access to see what exactly the woman was currently working on. That astonishment was quickly replaced with a look of contemplation as Nirrti considered the data spread out before her. Judging from what she was seeing the Tau'ri female had access to some highly advanced DNA and that by using that, was now well on her way to develop a gene therapy that would assist the retrovirus instead of combating it head on or simply deactivating it like what she had done to countless other girls during the long span of the project.

Continuing her inspection through the redheads work Nirrti shook her head in annoyance. _"So Primitive__… it's__ a wonder how they can be such a nuisance and still be so utterly incompetent. Still though… This does present a very promising predicament. All I would need to duplicate this work would be a few samples of this advanced DNA and I could replicate this on my own, away from the Tau'ri… On the other hand…" _Nirrti thought as she rubbed her chin in consideration,_ "It would only take a few minor unnoticeable alterations to this work right here and I could have a potentially fresh sample of Hok'Tar DNA not to mention a possible new host. Of course that would depend on the girl living through the procedure… Then again there's nothing to say that I can't do both, that way if the girl doesn't survive I can replicate it myself." _

Deciding that she was being presented with an opportunity that was far too valuable to pass up, Nirrti went right to work making subtle corrections in the redheaded Tau'ri woman's work. Once that was done she then turned her attention to copying as much data from the files as what she could, knowing that if she did not hurry she risked discovery by the Tau'ri and despite her confidence on her cloaking device she did not want to risk capture and loosing all the potential data that she had discovered. Briefly as she went through the woman's work she considered just seeking out the owners of the two samples of Hok'Tar DNA but ruled that out once she discovered that O'Neill was one of the owners and despite being well known for making a general nuisance out of himself he did not show any of the special attributes that she was looking for. "_Well except for that thing in the shower…" _Nirrti mentally amended to herself as she went back to copying the work.

Hearing the clicking footsteps that signified her time running out Nirrti stepped away from the counter and retreated to a safe distance where she could observe without the risk of someone accidentally bumping into her.

12321

Janet stepped back into the lab trying in vain to suppress a tired yawn from escaping her mouth. She was exhausted and knew that she was running out of steam but she was so close to being able to help Cassandra that she could feel it. Taking a long swig of the Coffee she had gone to fetch she made her way back to her work and began to go over it once more. After a few minutes she stepped away and blinked, "_That's odd… I don't remember doing this… I must be more exhausted than I thought…" _Turning her thoughts into slightly coherent thoughtful mutterings she continued, "Everything looks right… This could work… No… This will work…" After standing there for a minute digesting her own words Janet's face twisted into an excited smile as she exclaimed, "This will work… I'll be able to save her with this…"

After taking in several deep calming breaths to hide her excitement Janet reached calmly for the lab phone to summon her staff to help her get the treatment ready while keeping her fingers crossed because if all went well then they should be able to synthesize a treatment within a few hours.

1234321

Nirrti shook her head at the Tau'ri woman's arrogance while making her way out of the lab to check on the test subject as she knew she had some time to burn and had not yet checked in on her little experiment.

1234321

A few minutes later

12321

Ranma jerked awaked and immediately began a visible sweep of the room with her eyes, having been woken up by a vague feeling of dangerous unease that she usually associated with Teal'c's presence. Though to be honest with herself, what ever had woken her up had been much more potent than what she had ever felt around the large man. Letting her gaze come to a stop at the entranceway she tried to shake the feeling off and chalk it up to what Doctor McKenzie called post traumatic stress.

Nirrti paused; she had been in the room for only a few moments idly examining a curious looking box that had been sitting on a table by the door when she sensed movement behind her. Quickly stuffing the curiously decorated box into her robes she spun around just in time to witness the unknown girl who was sharing the same bed as her test subject suddenly jerk awake and begin to scan the room. She had been about to dismiss the phenomenon as nothing important when she realized that the girls gaze stopped at her position. Not wanting to risk discovery yet she took a step to the right and was surprised to see the girls gaze follow her. Knowing that her cloaking device kept her hidden from almost every race she knew about the former system lord began to reconsider her approach, after all if the girl was from one of those few races that could detect her, then she might find herself discovered before she had a chance to silence the girl. Taking several slow steps backwards Nirrti began to carefully creep back out of the room, tensing herself for the moment that the girl cried out in alarm.

Sighing in relief as the sensation finally passed Ranma turned her attention to her bedmate, seeing that Cassie was still asleep Ranma relaxed back down into the bed, feeling relieved that her friend had not been awake to worry about her as she tended to do when she tensed up around people.

On the other side of the door a thoughtful Nirrti stood wondering why the girl who could obviously sense her had not cried out in alarm. Briefly she considered reentering the room but immediately dismissed that idea as too risky until she had a better grasp of the girl and what exactly she was capable of. After all, the girl in the other room could be the other owner of the advanced DNA and without knowledge of what she was capable of Nirrti could find herself caught and imprisoned cloaking device or not. Deciding that she needed to find out more about this girl Nirrti made her way to the closest unoccupied computer terminal to hack into the SGC database.

1234321

Janet strode her way to Cassandra's room ready to tell her daughter that she had been able to formulate a treatment and that it should be ready by the morning. Her only regret on the matter was that it was not a cure and that after the treatment her daughter would have to worry about becoming a target to the NID but as Colonel O'Neill would say, one thing at a time. For the moment she had much more pressing issues as the treatment was still not a hundred percent guarantee but it was the best she could do without months of time to test and refine it. In any case though Janet knew alive was much better than dead and at least this way her daughter had a fighting chance and was not doomed to slowly burn up as she was currently doing.

Coming to the specially shielded room she braced herself and put aside all negative thoughts from her head as she did not want to worry her daughter before entering. Now with her face clear of self doubt Janet entered the room prepared to tell her daughter the news only to come to a halt at the sight before her. As Cassandra's mother, Janet had to suppress a frown, despite having already been informed by Colonel O'Neill that there was nothing inappropriate going on. But as Cassandra's doctor and mother she could not help but smile at the sight of her daughter sleeping peacefully as it was something that her baby had not been doing for the past few weeks. Sighing out a quiet, "It's okay Ranma, Colonel O'Neill already told me that you two were in here sleeping… Though I see that you are awake now."

Shuffling nervously on the bed Ranma began the arduous task of extracting herself from Cassie's arms so that she could climb out of the bed.

Slowly approaching the two teens Janet waited for Ranma to climb out of the bed before she made a motion for the sometimes girl to follow her out into the hall.

Ranma gulped with trepidation before she realized that she was no longer wearing her shoes. Not wanting to walk around on the cold concrete in just her socks she looked around feverously for them.

Realizing what was taking Ranma so long with just a glance Janet pointed behind herself and quietly said, "They're over there, Colonel O'Neill took them off you in your sleep." Seeing the teen hesitate Janet sighed in exasperation, "Hurry up Ranma… I have to get back to work." Almost as soon as she said it Janet regretted it as it nearly sent the teen into a blind scramble to get her shoes on and out the door. Resisting the urge to cover her face with her hand, Janet followed behind the apparently jumpy sometimes girl into the hall.

Once they were safely outside and out of earshot from the room Janet called out to the still retreating Ranma with, "That's far enough Mister."

Gulping nervously Ranma turned around and braced herself for the parental chew out that was sure to follow, after all while she did not have much, if any experience with such things she knew enough to realize that Cassia's mother must be upset with her for taking advantage of her daughters friendship. Seeing the stern look being directed at her from the older woman Ranma took a reflexive step back and braced herself.

Realizing that she was further spooking the teen, Janet sighed again and smiled softy while saying, "It's alright Ranma I'm not mad at you. I just wanted to talk to you without having to worry about Cassandra waking up."

Unsure as to whether the woman was just humoring her or not Ranma nodded almost reluctantly and waited for her to continue.

Glancing back in the direction of her daughters room Janet almost wistfully continued, "I didn't want to wake her, it's been too long since she seemed so at peace in her sleep. Even when she…" Trailing off as she realized that Ranma probably did not want to hear about how Cassie had been suffering from nightmares that led her to climb into her bed Janet cleared her throat and said, "Anyway… As I was going to say. I managed to formulate a treatment that would work and was going to tell Cassandra that it would be ready by the morning. Seeing that she is asleep though, I guess that will have to wait until after she wakes up."

Upon hearing the news Ranma's heart soared with relief for her friend she had been worried about Cassie's degenerating condition despite the fact that Cassie seemed to be doing better. Unfortunately despite her ongoing recovery from the NID's manipulations of her psyche, Ranma was left unsure of how to respond to the news. Before, back when she had been all man and carefree she probably would have said something like, that's great news. But standing in the there and now she felt that sort of response seemed hollow to the way she was feeling, what with her chest tying itself into knots and eyes starting to tear up.

Watching as the teen started to cry and knowing that Doctor McKenzie was trying to get Ranma to be more open with his or in the current case her feelings Janet took a few steps forward and opened her arms while softly saying, "Come here…"

Despite it being a request and not a command Ranma tensed up slightly and obediently moved forward, allowing herself to be wrapped into her warm embrace in the process.

Stroking Ranma's short cropped red hair as the not currently male cried into her shoulder Janet soothingly replied in a soft gentle voice, "Girl or guy… It's okay to cry when you're happy. It just shows how much of a true friend you are to Cassandra."

Not trusting her voice Ranma settled to just nodding into the somewhat taller woman's shoulder while she tried to compose herself.

After a few moments Janet slowly relinquished her hold on the teen and moved her to shoulders length away and let her face fall into a slightly more somber expression while she said, "Just so you know, Cassandra isn't out of the woods yet. The treatment will be very hard on her and she will need all the support from her friends that she can get… You're going to have to be strong for her… Can you be strong for her?"

Nodding her head in affirmation Ranma brushed away a few stray tears and replied, "Yes ma'am.."

Satisfied with the answer Janet nodded and stated, "Good… Then I'm going to need you to go get something to eat and then it's off to your quarters to get some rest…" Sensing an objection moments away the red-haired doctor added, "Don't worry, seeing that my daughter will likely insist that you be present when we administer the treatment I'll make sure to come get you myself once she wakes up."

Releasing her hold on the teen Janet then made a shooing motion with her hands while mock chastising, "Well off you go… You better hurry the mess hall is going to be closing soon…" Seeing that the teen before her was just standing there awkwardly waiting for something Janet sighed with realization and said, "You need an escort…"

Nodding her head Ranma sheepishly replied, "Yes Ma'am."

Realizing that it had been some time since she had last digested something other than caffeine Janet offered shorter girl a smile while taking her hand into her own and said, "Well I guess I'm it then…" Sensing a protest coming her way Janet cut it off with, "Doctors need to eat too, besides Nurse Hopkins is on duty and will have me paged if there is any change in Cassandra's condition." Tugging the girl towards the elevator Janet added, "Besides, it's not often that I get to spend time with my daughter's friends."

1234321

A few hours later

In a semi secluded office away from prying eye's

12321

Nirrti leaned back in the seat she had sequestered deep in contemplation over her next move. Her search through the Tau'ri data base had been enlightening to say the least and left her reconsidering her course of action. Not that she was considering turning over a new leaf or anything that extreme, no. No, it was the realization that the Tau'ri apparently had Hok'tars living amongst them that sent her mind spinning in different directions. Because if the Tau'ri had them then why did they not recruit more of them to fight against her kind, from what she had seen of the files, the one they currently had seemed most formable and would almost with out a doubt be more than enough to handle more than a dozen Jaffa single-handedly. Also if what she had seen was true and they truly did have Hok'tars, then when did they start to develop? She like the other system lords knew full well that nearly a millennium had passed between the time that Ra abandoned the planet and the final Goa'uld holdout had left. So where were the Hok'Tar during this time? _"Unless… Unless the Hok'tars are recent evolution on this planet and they are still in their infancy thus meaning that their numbers are small…" _

Moving her gaze over to the closed door of the small room she had holed up in while she hacked into the Tau'ri database Nirrti continued to mull over her next move. Part of her knew that she should probably just leave and cut her losses before she actually lost something of value, but the arrogant Goa'uld part of her was practically drooling up a storm at the possibility of having one or even two developed Hok'tars to study. So with that thought in mind the former system lord rose out of the seat and made her way to the nearest armory while she finished formulating a plan of action.

12345321

A few hours later, early morning, Infirmary

1234321

"You're going to be fine…" Ranma cooed softy as he gently clasped Cassie's hand between his own, "You'll see… You're going to be back to kicking my butt in chess in no time…" trying to grin with a confidence that he was currently lacking over Cassie's worsening condition Ranma then added, "Besides you said you wanted to show me around and you can't do that from a hospital bed."

Stepping away from where she was giving last minute instructions to her staff Janet glanced over to the door to see Doctor Warner standing there holding a small case. Nodding to him the weary mother/doctor changed her course and announced, "It's time…"

Holding out the small box in front of him Doctor Warner said, "I was in the area and stopped by the lab just in time for them to finish synthesizing this so I thought I would bring it by."

Stepping in close to the man Janet made a move to take the case from him only instead of relinquishing the treatment to her Warner's face turned somber as he asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to do this Janet?"

Shaking her head Janet replied, "Normally… No, I need to do this… She's my daughter and…"

Cutting the woman off Doctor Warner sighed, "Very well…" Relinquishing his hold on the case, the Doctor continued quietly, "Good luck…" Checking his watch he then added, "I'll be covering for you in the infirmary, I got a page… Apparently Siler…"

Janet laughed nervously knowing full well that Doctor Warner was just trying to lighten the mood and whispered, "Thank you." Turning away from the other Doctor Janet made her way over to her daughters bedside. Giving her daughter a loving reassuring smile Janet asked, "Are you ready sweetie?"

With her throat dry from the high fever of her rapidly worsening condition Cassie nodded unsurely while weakly squeezing Ranma's hand.

Brushing away Cassie's sweat soaked bangs Janet continued, "Okay then…" Sparing Ranma a quick glance she said, "I'm going to have to have Ranma move away from you so he won't be in the way…" Seeing her daughter nod in understanding again Janet continued, "He'll be right over there with Sam, Daniel and Colonel O'Neill… Okay honey…"

Reluctantly Ranma took the queue and gently let go of Cassie's hand to step away and stand with the others.

Jack whom had been covertly staring at his favorite Major with concern waved him over and asked, "Why don't you stand here between me and Carter."

Keeping his eyes locked on his friend Ranma silently complied and moved into position between the two adults. Engrossed as what he was in Cassie's well fare he showed no outward reaction when he felt both Sam and Jack latch onto him in a show of support.

Sam sighed to herself as she tried her best to not let her face convey just how worried she was for the closet person she would probably ever have for a daughter. Years ago she had wanted to adopt Cassie as she had known even then that she would never have the time to have children of her own, it would have been just be too irresponsible of her to put her needs first while the Goa'uld threat was still out there and given their sheer numbers she had known even then that she was in it for the long haul. Sadly that had been the same reason as to why she could not have adopted Cassandra despite how badly she had wanted to, there were simply just too many missions and crisis's that needed her and it would not have been fair to the at that time young preteen. So she had settled for being an adopted aunt, it was still a decision that would haunt her late at night as she would sometimes wonder about what if's and would have could have's.

Hearing the Colonel say something to Ranma, Sam twisted her head over to the man and sighed internally again, he was another part of her long list of regrets. Shaking her head to clear away the jealous thoughts that sparked up for her analogs from alternate dimensions Sam turned her attention back to Cassie and noticed that Ranma had stepped in-between her and Jack, seeing the visible signs of worry on the teens face she reached out ad took his hand into her own, idly realizing that her Colonel had reciprocated the action by clasping down one of his large gentle hands down onto the lads shoulder. Briefly Sam considered the newest addition into the SGC family of misfits and while he had not been there for long, he had already become a pseudo adopted son.

12321

Daniel stood there silently by Jack's side watching Janet with compassion evident in his eyes. He had mixed feelings over what she was about to do, sure he cared for Cassandra and wanted her to live but at the same time he was deeply worried for her because if the treatment worked then the former farm girl would be given a powerful ability. Combine that with the recent happenings in her life and given what had happened to her first family, he was worried that the most of the time sweet girl before him would turn into something else becoming driven by the feelings of fear and helplessness she had been feeling. Even if she didn't succumb to those feelings there was still the risk of her starting to believe herself as superior to everyone else and even if she believed herself to have the best intentions with using her gifts he had learned from Shifu that sometimes even having the best intentions could override your very soul. Realizing that Janet was about to administer the serum Daniel cut himself away from his own mixed feelings on the ethical rightness of what fate apparently had in mind for Cassie

1234321

After inserting the needle into Cassie's IV Janet closed her eyes briefly in prayer before reopening them and depressing the plunger to empty the serum into her daughters IV. Once it was completely drained Janet slowly withdrew it and announced, "It's done."

"How long until we know if it's working?" Ranma asked from his position between Jack and Sam.

Glancing up at the clock Janet replied, "It should have started to take affect almost immediately…" Turning briefly to take note of her daughter's vitals Janet frowned and asked, "Cassie hun… Are you feeling any different?"

Cassie was about to shake her head negative and attempt to croak out a no when all of the sudden her whole body felt as if it were twisting itself into knots while filling her with a white hot pain.

"She's seizing…" Janet cried out in alarm as she lunged forward to pin her daughter to the bed, "Get the restraints on her… Diazepam, Stat…"

1234321

On the sidelines Jack clamped down onto Ranma's shoulder in an attempt to keep the teen where he was and out of the way while the Doc did her best to keep her daughter stable and was somewhat relieved to realize that his action was unnecessary as Ranma apparently realized that he would be in the way if he did move forward.

Janet depressed the pre-prepared vial into her daughter, not moving from her position as her eyes tracked her vitals like a hawk. Feeling Cassandra's seizures begin to dissipate Janet allowed herself to take a quick breath to announce, "She's stabilizing…" Tearing her visage away from the vitals the worried woman turned down to her daughter only to discover that she was trying to say something, Bringing her hand down to push away her daughters hair Janet softly cooed, "Shhh… Save your strength… It's okay… It'll be okay…"

"Her BP is skyrocketing…" Janet heard Nurse Hopkins warn from her side.

"Stay with me honey… You need to calm down…"

Cassie's looked around the room wildly as she struggled to find the strength to cry out a warning having sensed something that she had only ever sensed in Sam and Teal'c closing in.

"She's crashing…"

"Nonono… Stay with me…" Janet cried out as she began to toil relentlessly to keep her daughter alive.

Ranma jerked forward uncertainly as he listened in on the happening around him wishing desperately that there was something he could do as he stood on the sidelines watching his friend's condition deteriorate. _"There's nothing I can do… I'd only be in the way… Unless…"_

"She's going into defib…"

"Get the pads…" Janet barked as tore away the top of the flimsy hospital gown that covered her daughter's modesty while she heard the ominous piercing tone of the heart monitor signaling that her little girls heart had stopped.

"_No… I can't lose her… There has to be something I can do…"_

"Clear!"

"_Come on Cassie… Come on…"_

"Again!"

"_Please… You can do it…"_

"Again!"

"She's not responding…"

"Dammit I can see that…" Janet retorted before she pleaded with her daughter, "Come on baby… Come back to me… Adrenaline…"

"Doctor… It's no use she's gone…"

"Don't tell me she's gone. What are you doing just standing around? I said Adrenaline, now!" Janet ordered as she climbed on top of her daughter and began heart compressions.

"_The technique… I can try it again… It'll work I know it…" _Ranma thought to himself as he began to move forward.

"Ranma, you need to stay here, you'll just be in the way." Jack hissed while he and Carter tried to hold the obscenely strong determined teen back.

"I can help her." Ranma replied simply as he effortlessly slipped out from their grasp.

"Oh really? How?" Jack fired back as he tried to reason with the dark haired youth.

Swiveling her head to the side from her position on top of her daughter Janet asked in desperation, "Can you get it to work?"

Moving up to Cassie's bed Ranma locked eyes with Janet and replied, "I have to try… I know I can help her… I have to..."

Seeing the fierce determination in his eyes Janet nodded sharply and replied, "Do it…"

Settling his hands into position just above Cassie's chest Ranma took in a deep breath to find his center and slowly began to will his own life force outward until his hands were lit up with a blindingly soft white glow.

12321

Nirrti whom had been keeping her distance to not alert the Hok'tar had had enough, she would have liked to have taken both teens but since one was now dead she would settle for the one, _"Besides…" _She thought, _"I already have a DNA sample from her… Though it's a shame that I won't have a fresh source to draw from as needed… "_

Moving away from her position across the hall where she had been observing through the open door the cloaked Goa'uld pulled out a Zat that she had taken from the Tau'ri armory and modified to suit her needs. Entering the room she smiled sinisterly, her soon to be pet was too preoccupied to sense her presence and that would only work to her benefit as now she would not have to worry about taking him out first. Taking careful aim with both her pilfered Zat and her Hand Device Nirrti smiled in triumph as she deactivated her cloaking device.

12321

"Shiii…" Jack swore as he felt himself being flung across the room and into an ever so convenient tray of sharp medical instruments.

12321

Hearing the telltale click-whine of a Zat activating Daniel tried to spin around to face his attacker but it was too little too late as before he even completed the spin and he was hit with an arcing blue light that briefly sent him into convulsions before blissful unconsciousness took hold.

1234321

With both Daniel and the Colonel down from the surprise attack Sam swung herself around and launched a kick at their unknown attacker only to have it blocked and redirected, sending her sprawling towards the ground. Tucking herself into a roll Sam avoided the crash and was soon back on her feet and moving towards their attacker, whom was hiding her face behind a thick black veil.

1234321

"Sound the alarm! Get security in here now…" Janet ordered from her position on top of her daughter as she took notice of the commotion breaking out in the room.

1234321

"Not so fast." Nirrti smirked as she fired her hand device at the infamous Major Carter while using the Zat to take out the remainder of the staff in the room.

1234321

Realizing that it was just her Ranma and Cassandra's still body left in the room with a Goa'uld Janet looked up towards the ceiling in agony over what was happening before she realized that the Goa'uld was on the move again and this time had the Zat trained on Ranma. Feeling a slight tremor under her fingertip Janet's eyes widened, "_A Pulse… It's faint… but… Whatever he is doing… It's working… But if Nirrti gets off a shot…" _Coming up with a course of action Janet launched off of her daughter and into the Goa'uld like a rabid lioness protecting her young.

12321

Nirrti almost snorted with distain at the woman's pathetic attempt to stop her. With her Zat still trained on the occupied Hok'tar she raised the hand containing her hand device and sent the woman sprawling back in the other direction leaving just her and the Hok'tar as the only ones conscious in the room.

12321

With sweat beading down his face from the exertion of performing the healing technique Ranma slowly turned his head. He had let his guard down and had only faintly been aware of what had been happening in the background as all his focus was currently being used to bring his friend back to him.

1234321

Seeing that she now had the young Hok'Tars attention Nirrti spared no time with pleasantries and fired the Zat.

1234321

Realizing that he could not yet break off the technique Ranma tried one last thing before the Zat blast made contact with him. Pulling forth his entire will he force fed it right into Cassie just moments before he was hit in the back. Feeling a painful electrical discharge on his back Ranma tried to fight it, redirect it, anything to allow him to hold on to Cassie for one moment longer and buy the time he needed to bring her back.

1234321

"You are a resilient one…" Nirrti taunted as she saw the teen struggling to stay standing. "It's a shame… I would have liked to have taken your friend too for my host but I guess I will have to settle for you… Though it is most fortunate that you are able to become female…" Nirrti added as she considered what she had learned from his medical files, "I would have hated to imagine being stuck with a male vessel…" Tapping her chin as if she were deep in thought Nirrti finished her taunt with, "I suppose that you will just have to get used to being a woman full time… Well… Not that what you want would matter seeing as your body will be mine to do with as I please." Finished with her little monolog Nirrti fired the Zat once more, causing her newest pet to crumple on top of her former project.

1234321

There were a lot of things that Ranma did not know, who the woman was, what she was talking about. But as he lay there half crumpled across Cassie's still form he knew one thing, for beneath him he could feel the slight indications of shallow breathing and the faint sounds of a beating heart. Feeling a splash of cold water that instantly reversed his gender, Ranma's aware mind in her otherwise comatose seeming body briefly hoped that the transformation would allow her to regain motor control over her body.

"Much better." Nirrti murmured as she tugged the neo female off of the dead girl and started to drag her out of the room and towards the elevators. Normally she might have tried the stairs but thanks to a little foresight on her part she had deactivated the security measures so they would be safe to use.

1234321

"_Pins and needles…"_ Jack thought as he slowly climbed back into consciousness, "_It feels like I'm lying in a bed made out of pins and needles…"_ Blearily opening his eyes as the memory of being flung across the room returned to him causing him to roll his eyes as he muttered, "Course… it probably feels like that because I am lying in a bed of frick'en needles…" Tiredly struggling to his feet Jack immediately staggered over to the alarm to alert the base before turning his attention to the room's occupants. Noticing Carter struggling to her feet he immediately made his way over to offer a hand.

"I'm fine sir." Sam muttered before she noticed Janet moving, "Janet? You okay?"

Wincing as she tried to pressure on her arm to raise herself up Janet replied, "No… But I think I'll be alright…" Remembering what had happened right before she had been sent flying Janet exclaimed, "Cassie…"

"What about Cassie? Jack asked as he moved away from Sam to check on Daniel.

"She had a pulse… Ranma's… It took Ranma…"

Sam who had moved over to help Janet up asked, "What? You sure?"

"Yeah… She was going to Zat him when I noticed that Cassie had a pulse." Janet explained as she stumbled towards her daughter.

Feeling a pulse on Daniel, Jack gave him a few light slaps on the cheeks before standing up and making his way over to the phone to tell them to lock the gate down.

Having reached Cassie's bed Janet tentatively reached out for a pulse only to jump back slightly as her daughter took in a deep shuddering breath as she lunged upwards.

With her eyes filling with tears Janet frantically began to remove the straps tying her baby girl down the while cooing, "It's okay… It's okay… I'm here… You're going to be okay…"

12321

Hanging up the phone after calling for a lockdown of the gate Jack glanced across the room, knowing that there was nothing else he could do where he was at the moment he ordered, "Carte, stay here and help the doc until Warner and a security detail gets here, we're in lockdown."

"Unauthorized Activation…"

"Scratch that… We're going down to the gate room. You okay by yourself doc?"

Realizing that whichever Goa'uld had taken Ranma was obviously trying to escape through the Stargate, Janet looked up from where she was cradling Cassie's head and shooed them away, "Go… go… I'll be fine… Just bring him back…"

1234321

Had she been current on the colorful adjectives of the Tau'ri, Nirrti would have cursed as the alarm klaxon sounded right as she stepped off the elevator while carelessly dragging her newly claimed prized Hok'tar behind herself.

1234321

"Relax honey. Colonel O'Neill will bring Ranma back." Janet said as she tried to get her struggling daughter to calm down, "He won't let anything bad happen I promise… Okay?"

Nodding reluctantly Cassie croaked out, "Okay mom…"

"Good…Now I have to check on the others, so please just stay put. You're in no condition to go running around." Turning her attention away from her daughter Janet made her way over to the closest downed body which happened to be Nurse Hopkins and knelt down to check on her condition while keeping her injured arm protectively cradled against herself. Unfortunately her stubborn daughter took her momentary inattention to somehow muster up the strength to not only climb out of the bed but go running out of the room as well.

"Get back here young lady…" Janet called out as she went to give chase only to stop short when she was alerted to Daniel coming to by a suffering moan. Knowing that in cases where the base was put into lockdown that there was no way to get anywhere without a security card Janet sighed and went back to work while muttering, "Stubborn girl… Could have least covered herself up some… Running around half naked… Near death experience or not you are so grounded…"

1234321

"Crap…" Cassie muttered as she slid to a stop in front of the elevators, "I don't have time for this…" turning her attention to the nearby stairs she almost sighed in despair, "I can't even… Stupid keycards…" Remembering what she had been doing with the chess pieces the night before Cassie shrugged, "It's worth a shot…" Focusing all her attention on the door she closed her eyes and pushed. Not hearing more than the barest sound of protest from the door, she opened them back up as she growled in irritation, "It didn't budge… Stupid door…" Taking in a few deep supposedly calming breaths Cassie muttered with increasing agitation, "I don't have time for this… Ranma needs me… I'll just have to try again… I can do it… It's just like spinning a chess piece around…" Sparing the offending door a long suffering glare she repeated, "A very large stubborn chess piece…"

Letting her frustration over her friends safety leak into her concentration Cassie closed her eyes and pushed with all her mental might and this time was rewarded with a strained protesting groan coming from the door. Letting her concentration slip completely Cassie allowed her frustration to temporarily override her as she ranted, "Stupid door… Open up… Why won't you open up…" Stepping forward to kick the stupid passageway blocker Cassie blinked and stopped short of breaking her foot as her eyes clued her into exactly why she could not get the door open, "_Figures… No wonder it wouldn't open…"_

Taking a step back Cassie calmed herself down and closed her eyes for the third time, this time instead of trying to forcibly push the door open she pulled with all her might and was instantly rewarded with a loud bang as the door swung completely open and imbedded itself into the wall.

"Fire exit my ass… Take that you bastard door…" Cassie crowed weakly for lack of a better insult as she darted towards the stairs shouting, "Hold on Ranma… I'm comin…"

1234321

"Shut down the gate." General Hammond ordered as he stepped into the control room.

"I can't…" Walter Harriman replied as he cycled through the gate controls, "And the Iris is unresponsive… I can't close it."

"Manuel override."

"It's been sabotaged; the crank and gearbox are damaged." Walter replied as he cycled through the shutdown procedure for the gate.

1234321

Nirrti smiled as she deactivated her cloaking device once more after having temporarily discarded her cargo to lay a trap for the incoming SGC security detail. Stepping back over to her prize she used her foot to push away some unfortunate Tau'ri whom had tried to check on her little distraction. Reaching down with her hand she grasped the girl by the shirt and continued on her way to the gate room.

1234321

"Tell me you can at least lock down the gate room." Hammond said in frustration over his base being compromised again.

"It won't close either." Walter said with a wince, "Whoever did this was able to bypass our security measures completely without raising up any flags.

Taking in a deep calming breath the exasperated General asked, "SG1?"

"Colonel O'Neill is on route. Major Carter is still in the infirmary with Doctor Frasier and Doctor Jackson."

Wanting nothing more than to take a swig from his secret stash of whiskey General Hammond asked, "Goa'uld?"

"Yes sir… And they have a prisoner…" Walter said with another wince.

"Who?"

"Mr. Saotome."

123454321

"Stop right there…" Jack shouted as he made a dive back into the elevator to avoid a Zat blast. Turning to his Xo who was pinned down with him he stated wryly, "Carter, make a note… No shouting stop right there when leaving the elevator."

"Noted Sir…" Sam stated as she rolled her eyes.

Sticking his head out from behind his cover Jack stated, "It's clear, she's moving towards the gate room."

1234321

Taking a few steps out of the elevator with Carter on his six Jack was about to motion for her to take the opposite side of the hall when the door to the stairwell burst open. Keeping his weapon trained down the hall in Nirrti's general direction, Jack glanced backwards ready to give out orders, except instead of the group of stalwart weapon toting men he was greeted with a disheveled half naked Cassie who was clutching the top of her gown to her chest in an effort to contain her modesty.

1234321

Blinking as she came face to face with two very familiar adults Cassie stalled to a halt and nervously replied, "Uncle Jack… Aunty Sam… Fancy meeting you here…"

Sliding off his BDU top Jack stated, "Didn't we leave you in the infirmary? Carter?"

Glaring at her niece for being up and about when she knew better, Sam chastised, "Yes we did, Sir.'

Taking the offered Jacket Cassie blushed and said, 'uhm… look at that over there…"

"Nice try young lady, but you're going back to the infirmary. Carter find an Airman to escort her back up there."

"Yes sir." Sam replied knowing that the gate room was the worse possible place for Cassie at the moment.

Not having time to plead her case Cassie opted for a better distraction and reached out with her new powers and pushed them both gently away from her before taking off again down the hall.

"Ommphhh…ommmmphhh…" Jack complained as he laid there on the floor for a moment waiting for his XO to climb off of him.

"Sorry about that Sir." Sam stated with a blush as she rolled off her CO and offered him a hand up.

"That's it…" Jack stated, "She is so off the Christmas card list."

"Colonel…"

"Oh… She'll still get a gift… Just no card…" Jack clarified as he climbed to his feet and started jogging down the hall with Carter at his side.

1234321

Meanwhile in the gate room

12321

Nirrti had managed to make it past the remaining guards blocking her path in the gate room as they were reluctant to fire while she was holding a captive. In fact only one last obstacle remained between her and the gate. "Out of my way Shol'va." Nirrti warned from the bottom of the ramp as she stared down her last obstacle, "Or I shall kill this human."

"Do so and you shall lose your prize." Teal'c retorted snidely while he kept his staff weapon trained on the false god.

"Very well…" Nirrti consented with a smirk from beneath her veil while lowering the Zat only to fire several blasts at the platform beneath the traitor's feet.

Normally Teal'c would not have anything to worry about as even when fired against a metallic surface as Zat blasts would usually harmlessly dissipate after a few feet, but what the experienced Jaffa had not taken into account was that Nirrti had modified the Zat to a higher output, thus resulting in the electrical discharge being able to travel a greater distance, sending the prideful warrior to his knees.

Knowing that the blast would not be enough to knock out the Shol'va Nirrti fired again, this time aiming for the Jaffa's chest, sending both him and the staff weapon he was holding tumbling off of the ramp.

1234321

Cassie slid into the gate room just as Teal'c fell from the ramp, spotting her friend being dragged carelessly by the scruff of her neck made Cassie's blood boil, taking a few determined steps towards the now retreating Goa'uld she cried out, "Put him down!!!"

Nirrti stopped in her tracks and turned slowly having recognized the voice. "So you live."

Incensed that her command had been ignored Cassie slowly repeated it while gently pushing aside the remaining airmen that were blocking her path, "I said put him down! Now!"

Curious over the casual display of power, Nirrti removed her veil and asked, "Or what? You'll throw a tantrum and cry for your mommy and Daddy… Oh wait… I forgot… They're dead… Because I killed them when they stopped being useful to me."

Cassie paled; she had not been expecting to be confronting the sole individual responsible for the death of her people. Forming her hands into fists with her nails digging into her palms, Cassie took a brave step forward showing no small amount of rage as she did so.

Seizing the boon being granted to her Nirrti took a step back towards the gate intent on getting the girl to follow, figuring in her arrogance that she would be able to handle the petulant brat without any problems.

"Put him down!" Cassie growled out fiercely as she stalked forward.

"Or what?" Nirrti taunted while she took another step back.

"I'll kill you…" Cassie whispered as she continued her advance.

"You'll kill me child? I'm your god… You can't kill a god." Nirrti said dismissively as she continued backwards.

"You're no god…" Cassie hissed as her bare foot made contact with the bottom of the ramp leading up to the Stargate.

"I'm not?" Nirrti replied innocently as she came to a stop right at the event horizon of the Stargate, "Didn't I unleash a plague that wiped out your people?"

With her blood boiling with barely contained rage Cassie whispered, "I'll show you god…"

Taking that as her queue to leave Nirrti stepped into the event horizon taking Ranma with her.

Unmindful of the potential danger awaiting her on the other side Cassie charged forward, paying no heed to the shouts of warning coming from behind her.

"Cassie!!! Dammit!!!" Jack shouted as he rushed into the room to see the teen in question moving for the gate, quickening his stride he sped forward holding out his arm to snag a P90 from a nearby airman as he did so.

12321

Cassie came through the gate and looked around feverishly for any sign of Ranma or Nirrti. Spotting Ranma lying a few feet in front of the DHD she started to rush forward before she realized that it had to be a trap because Nirrti was still out there somewhere.

Unsure about how to proceed she glanced down at her sore feet to the jagged rocks she was standing upon. Getting an idea she focused her mind and started flinging the offending rocks in all directions, with the hope that one of them might peg Nirrti.

Hearing a rock strike something fleshy near Ranma Cassie began to send more rocks that way intent on blanketing the area with stones until there was a small mountain of stones piled up.

12321

From behind the cover of the DHD Nirrti watched in interest before deciding that she had had enough, uncloaking herself she stood fully and clapped her hands bringing the pissed girls attention to herself.

12321

Cassie spun around to the other direction and staggered slightly from the strain of moving so many objects with her mind.

"Impressive… Very impressive… But I'm afraid it's time to put an end to this little game…" Nirrti stated as she trained the Zat on the red-haired girls still form, "That is if you value your little friends life."

"I can stop you…" Cassie stated with affirmation as two figures came flying through the gate behind her moments before it closed down.

"Can you? You forget, I have two weapons…" Nirrti reminded the teen as she raised her hand with the ribbon device, "I'm sure I can manage at least one shot with either hand before you can even think to disarm me." Shrugging dismissively the fallen system lord added nonchalantly, "Oh well, we will just have to see whom is quicker."

"Cassie step back…" Jack ordered as he advanced forward.

"No…" Cassie replied as she glanced back at Jack, "She'll kill him…"

"I won't let that happen. I promise kiddo, bit right now you need to step back and take cover with Major Carter." Jack promised as he reached her and placed his hand on her arm.

"Noooo…" Cassie screeched out as she noticed Nirrti raising the Zat from the corner of her eye. Not knowing what else to do she reached out with her mind and focused on relieving the false god of her weapons.

Nirrti howled in pain as she felt the Ribbon Device being forcibly torn from her person effectively mangling her intertwined hand in the process. Staggering several feet backwards in an attempt to remain standing Nirrti felt her legs buckle beneath her forcing her to fall to her knees she clutched at the now ruined limb in disbelief.

Advancing slowly Jack cautiously eyed the Goa'uld's lost weapons, holding back a wince as he spotted more than one finger and no small amount of skin still intertwined in the hand device. Keeping his pilfered P90 trained on the former system lord he recognized as Nirrti Jack held up his hand and motioned for his Xo to move forward to Cassie after seeing her starting to sway unsteadily on her feet.

123454321

Sam moved forward at a brisk pace moving swiftly to Cassandra's position while keeping her eye out for any sort of back up that Nirrti might have laying in waiting at whatever planet hey had blindly gated to. Having only cleared about half the distance between herself and her adopted niece Sam was helpless to prevent the teen form falling down on her hands and knees. With a worried shout of, "Cassie…" she rushed forward and managed to catch up to the apparently determined girl just as she collapsed into Ranma's prone form.

12321

Hearing Carters cry of alarm Jack immediately turned his head to assess the situation unfortunately it seemed that Nirrti had been playing possum as she took the distraction as an opportunity to activate her personal cloaking device and flee into the tree line, leaving a trail of blood from her ruined hand in the process.

Swearing softly to himself Jack started to pursue but stopped in his tracks as he heard the telltale sounds of the gate activating.

Moments earlier

12321

Feeling a sudden onset of drowsiness overtake her as the adrenaline rapidly dissipated from her system Cassie slowly staggered towards Ranma's position only to fall to her knees just short of her intended target. Using the last of her fleeting strength she slowly inched forward until she was positioned right above her prone friend. Feeling her arms buckling under the strain of holding herself up Cassie fell forward and wrapped her arms firmly around her friend while drowsily muttering, "I'm so glad you're safe…" Cuddling deeper into her human pillow, with her head gently nestled on the currently girls chest Cassie allowed herself to be gently lulled into sleep by the gentle beats of her friends heart.

1234321

Sam finished her approach to the two downed teens and took a knee while carefully reaching out with her hand to check on the girls condition. Feeling a pulse coming from her niece she sighed in relief just in time to become aware of her Colonel moving into position above her.

Brushing a few strands of hair away from Cassandra's face Sam then reached down and adjusted the back of the girls gown so she would no longer be mooning the approaching SG3 who were being accompanied by the remaining members of SG1 and one very upset looking redheaded doctor. Offering up her report just as Janet was within ear shot Sam stated, "Cassie's just sleeping… the strain must have been too much for her." Then switching her attention to the girl clad in ill fitting air force sweats Sam noticed something rather important. Looking up to her Commanding officer with concern she added, "Sir I think we may have a problem…"

After motioning for Teal'c and Daniel to come over while SG3 fanned out to offer them cover Jack looked down and came face to face with two very wide open blue eyes staring in wonder at the active gate behind him. Sighing as he ran his hand through his graying hair he wryly stated, "Ya think…"


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry about the long delay with this real life and other issues got in the way. Many thanks to James Axelrad and Nysk for all their help and advice.

Also while I know I was saying that I was going to cover the fall of the tollans in this chapter things got a bit carried away and I had to put it off for next chapter, but this time it is in the next chapter so there will be action.

Anyway enjoy

1234321

For three day's Ranma and Cassandra had been cooped up in the infirmary as Cassie's mom was worried for the two teens. Since Cassie hadn't woken up until twenty four hours later after the incident and while Ranma had been awake the two amplified ZAT blasts he had taken had managed to temporarily fry his nervous system leaving him mostly unable to move for the first day. Sure he had been able to move his pinky toe but even that had been a chore. Luckily for him though as the day wore on he gradually had been able to regain motor control, albeit slowly. As it was he still wasn't a hundred percent and still had a few issues with walking, however he was confident that by the day's end he would be fine.

With Cassie not feeling up to a game of chess and nothing to watch on the tv in the room because someone had misplaced the DVD box set Jack had gotten for them the two teens had opted to just sitting silently in their shared room at each others side while they both kept their minds busy with mentally digesting all that had happened.

For Ranma that revolved around all of the implications that the revelation of the Stargate had brought about into his life. Ever since he had learned about Sheila and Wanda's betrayal he had trying to figure out why they had done what they had to him. Why it had been necessary to hide the truth from him, especially since he would have gladly agreed to help fight against them if it meant more people like Cassie would be saved. It was something that was surprising to Ranma, that despite all of the difficulties he was trying to work through he wanted to fight them. Even more so upon learning that the images he had been forced to view through the implant were from a Jaffa giving him a very surreal insight to just how evil the Goa'uld are and that in itself was more than enough motivation for him to want to join the fight against them.

Of course there was also the residual feelings of helplessness that he felt constantly and… Glancing over to his side and seeing Cassie maintaining a brave front over her own uncertainty he mentally amended, "_Maybe it's that because of what that Goa'uld Nirrti did to Cassie and her original family, though I guess we truly do have a lot in common." _ Quickly adverting his gaze before his friend had the chance to notice his thoughtful look he asked softly, "Cassie?"

"Yes?" Cassie replied almost eagerly, glad to have something to think about other than the ease in which she had mangled Nirrti's hand. It was not that she was distressed by what she had done to the monster that had killed off her people. No it was more of a case of, if it was that easy to do what would happen if she let her anger get the better of her around someone who did not deserve it. Would she be able to control herself and not hurt them or would she become some uncontrollable monster and wind up hurting everyone she loved just because she could not control herself.

"Are all Goa'uld like that?"

"Like What? Ranma." Cassie sighed out as she tried to bury her fears over potentially hurting her loved ones because she could not keep control over her emotions.

"Evil I guess…" Ranma slowly clarified for lack of a better word, "You know… going around killing and torturing people because they can…"

Nodding reluctantly Cassie replied, "Sort of…"

Confused over Cassie's reluctant agreement Ranma asked, "Sort of?"

"Well…" Cassie drawled out slowly in a soft voice, "There are the Tok'ra but I only met one once and I don't really know anything about them." Seeing the silent questions forming in her best friends eyes Cassie tried to clarify, "They're the same as the Goa'uld except they fight against them and 'supposedly' only take willing humans as hosts."

"Oh…" Ranma replied uncertainly as he could tell that there was more that Cassie had left unsaid.

"It's just that… The only one I ever met took Sam as a host without her permission…"

"What happened?" Ranma asked carefully, knowing that there were several rather painful memories that he himself would rather just as soon forget about and with that in mind he really didn't want Cassie to answer if she was uncomfortable with it unless she wanted to.

"I'm not really sure… All I know is that the Tok'ra died saving Sam from a Goa'uld assassin…" Cassie fretted uncertainly as she began to realize that if she had only had her abilities a few years ago she would have been able to protect Sam from the Ashrak that had almost taken her aunt away from her.

"Oh…" Ranma replied uncertainly as he mentally tried to digest that little piece of information.

"…I asked Sam what happened…" Cassie started trying to break the silence that had fallen across the room, "But she couldn't really tell me anything other than what I told you already…"

"She seems okay now…" Ranma softly returned back.

"Yeah… that was a few years ago." Cassie sighed back as she scooted a bit closer to Ranma so that she could lean up against him.

Despite his difficulties interacting with people Ranma could tell that there was something else bothering her. He supposed it was because of how close they had become in the short time they had known each other. Of course there was also the small matter of how she had come to his rescue just two days before and what she had done to the Goa'uld that had taken him. Regardless by now he knew enough to know when to give her silent support, so as she scooted in towards him, he simply raised his arm up and set it down across her shoulders without a word.

Cassie sighed to herself as she tried to let the feeling of Ranma's warmth chase away her own inner demons. No matter how hard she tried though she could not forget in the silence as her mind silently reviewed the scene of the hand device ripping away from Nirrti taking away no small amount of flesh as it did so. Shuddering slightly she leaned her head upon her friends shoulder.

She continued to sit like that for several moments until she could not take it anymore. She needed to do something proactive to stave off her fears lest she succumb to them and become something other than what she was. Lightly cracking her eyes open she let them fall down over Ranma's chest. The it hit her, she realized what she could do to help herself. Wrapping her arm around the small of her companions back she gave a light squeeze to get his attention. When she could feel his eyes upon her she began softly, "Ranma?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure…" Ranma replied with ease while betraying no small amount of eagerness to help his best friend to whom he felt rather grateful and indebted to in a way that he could not put into words.

At one point in time Cassandra Frasier might have been a very proud and stubborn girl, those times had passed due to recent happenings and what was left was a young woman who had countless doubts about a wide array of matters. Thankfully though she had people to turn to help ease her doubts as long as she could possess the strength to ask. This was one such matter as her guilt was pushing her to realize the potential risk she posed as she was. So with the thoughts of wanting control to keep those most precious to her safe from herself she asked softly in a whisper, "Do you think you could help me learn to control my powers? I don't want to hurt anyone by accident because I got upset and lost it…" Left unsaid was what 'it' was but thinking back on what she had witnessed Ranma do she knew that he could understand her loud and clear.

Ranma nodded affirmatively and replied, "Sure… But I'm not sure how much I can help…" feeling a sigh on his shoulder he immediately added, "There are a few things that I could help you with but…" Feeling Cassie's posture at his side start to droop he added, "It's just that meditation is a private thing…" Trying to elaborate on it he continued, "I can talk you through it but in the end it's up to you to go through with it."

"Meditation?" Cassie asked curiously not really knowing where Ranma was going with what he was saying.

"Yeah… It's how I was able to emulate the Neko Ken so well. Sure I watched video footage of myself immersed in it but I had to meditate to be able to draw my ki out consciously…"

"So you have some kind of cat inside you?" Cassie interrupted in proactive approach to keep her friend from dwelling on what had happened while he was with the NID.

"Ohhh Kami no…" Thankful for the segway Ranma replied with faux horror that was only betrayed by the grin on his face, "It's more like I had to search for the power within myself to be able to draw it out." Realizing that his explanation had not really explained anything he added, "The Neko ken was merely training,, training that made me stronger in a lot of ways. But the meditation was what made it possible for me to be able to use that strength consciously This time it was Ranma's turn to sigh as he added, "With you though it's different, you can already control it

Taking his friends silence as doubt Ranma stated, "You can already manipulate those chess pieces and from what the others are saying you were able to push everyone away and there's that thing you did picking up all the rocks and flinging them around…" deciding to skip over what she had done to Nirrti Ranma continued, "Though I thought your mom said before that you could only manipulate metal or something."

Not wanting to correct Ranma by saying, electromagnetic fields' Cassie replied uncertainly, "I don't know… Maybe I was just moving around the metal in the rocks and on the soldiers… I guess…"

Shrugging because that excuse seemed as good as any for the moment and it was not like it really mattered because regardless Cassie was his friend Ranma said, "I suppose we can practice with you moving things around."

With a hopeless feeling sigh Cassie responded, "It's just that I don't want to risk hurting someone because they snuck up on me."

Squeezing the girls shoulder in support Ranma replied, "I'm sure we'll be able to think of something. It just might take some time to learn what works and what doesn't."

"I suppose." Cassie stated while trying to hide the disappointment in her tone over there not being a quick fix that could ensure her extended families safety from her.

Hearing footsteps echoing in the hall Ranma stiffened slightly while both teens quickly extracted themselves from each other.

Gulping uncertainly as Jack entered the room with Sam and Daniel following closely behind him, Ranma was half afraid that they were going to send him away to some isolated place because he had found out about the Stargate and the truth behind what they did at the mountain. Feeling Cassie's hand reach back over and engulf his own he spared her a quick grateful glance while trying his best to smile at his seated companion.

Leaning closer into Ranma, Cassie tried to assure her newly crowned unofficial best friend with, "Relax, it wasn't your fault that you found out, nothing bad is going to happen." Seeing the stern look on her pseudo uncle Jack and the somber faces trailing behind him along with the concerned look her mother was featuring Cassie slightly amended her statement with, "At least I think so."

Clearing his throat sharply Jack turned all eyes onto him as he made a pointed scene of sitting down and getting comfortable while at the same time managing to convey and air of total seriousness.

Shifting nervously in his seat again Ranma tried to find his voice, hoping that he was not going to be separated from the people whom he had been growing rather attached to over the past few weeks. Unfortunately his voice decided that now was a good time to betray him as it cracked while he asked, "Is there any news?"

"As a matter of fact," Jack started off seriously while frowning, "There is 'news'."

"Well?" Cassie asked as she leaned forward.

"Well what?" Jack answered in return.

"The news?" Cassie intoned with a bit of worry.

"What about the news?" Jack replied while struggling to keep a somber expression on his face, "It's on at nine o'clock I think their running a rather interesting piece on a old woman and her pet squirrel, at least it looked interesting from the short clip I saw." Turning his head over to Sam he continued, "Ohh that reminds me, my tivo is broken so I won't be able to record Sundays episode of the Simpson's."

Sam sighed ruefully as she rolled her eyes figuring that Jack… err the Colonel had strung the two teens along enough and chastised her superior officer with, "Colonel…"

"All right.. All right, I'll tell," Sending a mock glare at his favorite major he continued with, " After several long hours of enduring the most horrible torture imaginable and several rather lengthy pointless debates with the occasional lecture about foreign nationals…"

"Jack/ Colonel…"

"Right…"" Jack muttered, "Honestly it's like no one appreciates a good story anymore…" clearing his throat he continued with a smile, "Basically I managed to persuade the president to give Ranma limited clearance." Seeing the confused look still on the teens faces Jack sighed again and added, "That means… What does that mean? Daniel? Carter?"

Shrugging Daniel replied, "Got me."

"It means." Sam started, "That everything has been smoothed over and Ranma will continue to remain under the protection of the SGC until he either turns 18 or is reunited with a member of his family."

"So he can stay?" Cassie asked while looking glancing at the teen next to her wondering why he was being so silent after hearing such great news.

Ranma hid a sigh of relief as he realized that he was not going to be sent away and yet at the same was caught up with one part of what Jack had said. With his mood elevated noticeably from the good news he asked for clarification, "The president?" As in THE President of America?"

"Actually it's the US." Daniel said while instinctively moving into his lecture pose, "The U.S. is just one of…"

"DANIEL…"

"Jack? I was just trying to explain…" Daniel said while not really realizing that he had shifted into lecture mode over something so trivial as a slight misconception over the proper name of the country that signed his pay checks.

Showing just how well he knew his friend Jack interrupted, "While I'm sure that Ranma would love to be enlightened with a long drawn out detailed lecture of the other countries on this continent there are other things we have to do right now."

Daniel sputtered in indignation as he unsuccessfully shot back with a retort.

Smirking triumphantly at his win Jack turned his attention back to Ranma and started, "Now where were we? Ah, yes… The president… Yeah, him and I go way back…"

"Colonel…"

Turning slightly to face his XO Jack sighed and gave the woman his best 'et tu brute' look at being interrupted again and asked, "What now Carter?"

Knowing that Jack was just playing around Sam felt the need to get things moving back on track, after all they had a lot of things to take care of before Sunday if they were going to surprise Ranma. So with that in mind she said, "Don't you have to go find Teal'c?"

"Huh? What for?"

Rolling her eyes in disbelief over him having forgotten already Sam tried to clarify without spilling anything to the two teens in the room, "You mentioned something about needing both his and Daniels help?"

"Help with what?" Jack asked cluelessly.

Sam just stood there for a second with her mouth hanging slightly agape over her apparently forgetful CO's behavior before her eyes caught onto a slight twitch in the mans lips. Realizing that she was being had Sam rolled her eyes again and shot back with a glare.

Ignoring Sam's glare as he was too busy mentally pumping his fist over being two for two with his two eggheads Jack turned back to Ranma after shooting a quick glance at his watch and said, "Well as much as what I would like to stick around, Carter was right I do have to get going…" lifting himself slowly out of his seat he continued, "But… if there's cake later I want a piece."

Janet stepping in closer to her two seated patients interjected at that moment with, "Sorry Colonel, no cake tonight…" Tapping her finger to her chin as if she were in deep thought the redheaded doctor added while sending a silent look of disapproval at her daughter, "But tomorrow is a different story, it just depends on if these two patients can follow doctor's orders."

Seeing the pointed almost glare that her mother was sending her, Cassandra realized her and Ranma's mistake and while it wasn't her mothers usual no-nonsense what do you think you are doing look, it did rate high enough on the scale for Cassie to know that she messed up. Looking down to her feet after shooting a quick look over to her seated companion in crime Cassie embarrassedly answered, "Sorry mom… we were bored…."

"tsk tsk tsk…" Janet interrupted, "Young lady… Ranma…. What did I tell you earlier about walking around?"

"You said, not to get out of bed unless you said so or we had to go to the bathroom and then we needed to call a nurse to help." Ranma fired off automatically as he joined Cassie in looking down at the well polished Linoleum floor.

"And while I suppose with the way things have been going around here lately it is possible that the two of you we somehow almost magically lifted out of your beds and placed onto the bench. That's not what happened, is it?"

"No ma'am/mom"

Jack, having not yet left the room because frankly it was rather enjoyable to watch others having to suffer through the petite doctors tyrannical rule decided to interject with, "You should listen to her kids… Otherwise she might break out the big needles…"

"Colonel…" Janet warned as she shot the man a glare.

Offering his hands up in surrender Jack replied, "I'm going…" Waving over to his resident archeologist he added, "Come on Danny, let's go find Teal'c so that we can take care of those, 'THINGS'."

While offering an embarrassed smile at the antics of his best friend and team leader Daniel waved goodbye but not before saying, "Ranma… Cassie, I'm glad to see that the two of you are feeling better…"

"DANIEL…"

Hearing Jacks shout from the hall Daniel shrugged and gave the room's occupants a sigh while he added, "Well I better get going, Jack has a tendency to get a little cranky…"

"DANIELLLL…"

Making a gesture with his hand to show his point the lanky archeologist waved goodbye again while mouthing something over to Sam and Janet that went unseen by the two youths.

"Now where were we?" Janet asked only to pause when she heard Jack's voice coming from the door.

"Oh hey… I almost forgot…" Jack announced as he leaned back into the room while ignoring the glare Daniel was sending him, "There's more good news." Not giving any of the room's occupants to react Jack quickly shot out, "Congratulations Ranma, Monday you start school. Make sure to ask Major Carter or the Doc if you have any questions."

Ranma's mouth dropped open in shock over the news and was barely able to remain sitting there as his mind tried to wrap itself around that revelation.

At first Cassie's reaction had mirrored that of her friends but shock quickly turned into joy as she realized that not only would Ranma be able to leave the mountain more often but there was also the chance of them going to the same school or even sharing a few classes. So with the thoughts of spending more time with the teen on her mind Cassie beamed, "That's great Ranma…" Not wanting to show everyone else what she was hoping yet at the same time needing to find out more information Cassandra asked in a slightly more subdued voice, "Mom, Sam? Is he serious?"

"Huh… What?" Sam stated as she turned away from the now empty doorway that had been receiving her fiercest glare due to the absence of one snarky Colonel.

Running her hand through her hair in frustration over a blabby certain loose lipped colonel Janet sighed, "Yes it's true, Starting next week Ranma will be going to school the specific date depends on a few things that still haven't been worked out but Monday no later than Wednesday Ranma should be going to school with you in the mornings."

"That's great Ranma…" Cassandra stated joyously as she embraced said teen, "maybe we'll even have a few classes together."

Realizing that Ranma had yet to say anything Janet approached the young man and placed her hand upon his shoulder with her voice full of concern over his mental health she asked, "Ranma? Are you okay? I know it seems like a lot for you to take in right now but an education is very important. If you're not comfortable with attending school yet we won't push you. There are other alternatives out there, it's just that we felt it best for you to get some contact with others your age… Other than Cassandra…" Janet added as almost an afterthought.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts as he snapped out of his daze Ranma slowly replied, "No… It's not that… Well sort of… It's just… I…"

Extracting herself from the embrace while looking at her friend with concern Cassandra asked, "What is it Ranma? What's wrong?"

'….."

"What was that?" Sam asked as she stepped closer, unsure as to whether or not the teen had actually said something.

Speaking a bit louder but still within the range of a soft whisper Ranma replied, "What about my problem with water?"

Smiling despite the fact that she knew Ranma had other concerns as well Sam stated, "Well, it was going to be a surprise but I think I have managed to work out a solution for that little issue."

Despite the fact that the NID had pushed him into accepting his dual nature there were parts of Ranma's psyche that still wanted a cure or rather a chance to appear normal. So with that hope showing in his voice he asked, "You can cure me?"

Shaking her head sadly while noting the only somewhat dejected look that flashed across the teens face Sam answered, "No, I'm still working on that. But I think that we have found a means to ensure that you don't change forms in public."

"How?" Cassie asked excitedly.

Holding back a roll of her eyes at how transparent her pseudo niece was being Sam continued, "Well, there are two ways we've managed to work out. First off is a special soap that was mentioned in the NID files that will lock you in whichever form you apply it on for several hours depending on how often you are splashed with water. The problem with it is that it's actually happens to be pretty rare and expensive so we can only get a limited supply at the moment." Despite the sigh coming from Cassandra at that last part Sam trudged onwards with, "Now the second means we discovered hasn't been proven to work yet and I was almost not going to mention it except that I am positive that it's going to work… Well should work…" Sam tacked on almost so silently that Ranma was the only one who heard it.

Realizing that she had forgotten about how Ranma was able to amplify his senses Sam sighed to herself for adding the last bit out loud and immediately covered herself with, "Awhile back there we had a foothold situation where a group of still unknown aliens managed to breach the SGC while impersonating almost all of the staff." Holding out a mostly red colored pendant Sam went on to say, "They used this. At first we assumed that this was simply a very advanced illusion but after meeting you I began to suspect differently. It's not a body transformation device either." Sam added to stall off any interruptions, "What it does do… Take in mind there have been a few issues that have kept me from being able to prove this theory as we have not been able to get the device to remain charged for more than a few minutes at a time…" Realizing that she was going off on a tangent Sam redirected her monologue with, "Basically when activated the device offsets your body slightly out of phase with this dimension while at the same time allowing you to interact with the world through the use of the avatar that is programmed into it. Originally during the foothold the aliens used these and some other technology that worked in tandem with the devices to not only allow them to impersonate the SGC staff but while they were connected they appeared to also allow some sort of telepathic link giving them the base knowledge they needed to infiltrate the mountain." Giving a thoughtful look down at the device held within her hands Sam continued, "I was going to just demonstrate how it works to you but seeing that you were well enough to get out of bed that perhaps I should just let you test it out." Shooting Janet a questionable look she added, "If it's okay with your doctor that is."

Shooting a contemplative gaze at the male youth in question Janet slowly relented, "I suppose that it could be alright but I still don't want Ranma moving around any more than necessary."

Seeing that she had gotten Janet's go ahead San turned to Ranma and asked," Would you like to try it out or would you rather I just went ahead and demonstrated how it works for you?"

Ranma glanced back and forth between the other occupants of the room in an attempt to decide on whether or not he should do it.

Seeing Ranma's indecisiveness Sam felt in necessary to add, "You don't have to try it out if you don't want to but you should know this, the current record for this device running before it needs a recharge is just shy of four minutes. I'm willing to bet that you can beat it by a land slide because of how I think it charges, but if you don't want to it's okay I can demonstrate it for you then you can decide."

Shaking his head Ranma decided, "No… I guess… I can give it a try… Just one thing though…" The young teen asked almost hesitantly, "If it will only work for a few moments how is it supposed to help me? I mean it's not like I'll be able to know if I'm going to get hit with water."

Smiling as she moved forward to place the device on Ranma Sam replied, "Well I'm glad you asked, actually I believe the reason on why we haven't been able to keep the device charged is that we were trying to use the wrong type of power… though they did not leave a lot of technology behind, they did leave enough clues for us to figure out that they had apparently learned to harness bio energy on some level…" realizing that she was about to loose most of the rooms occupants with her explanation Sam simplified with, "Basically it comes down to the power demand, these little devices take a lot of power to function and currently we have no means to recharge them. Well almost no means as I believe that if you were to use it just by being connected to it the device would charge up because off the massive amounts of bio energy you are constantly putting out."

"Oh… Okay…" Ranma drawled out slowly while he glanced down at his chest where Sam had placed the device, "How do I turn it on?"

Grinning in excitement the astrophysicist replied, "That's the easy part. All you have to do is lightly push down on in."

"Like this…" The teen asked unsurely before responding, "Whoah… That's different… It's hard to…" Cutting himself off as he realized that there was something different about his voice he asked, "Why do I sound different?"

Smiling because the teen hadn't yet realized the other changes yet Sam stated, "Your voice sounds different because you are currently using the analogue to interact with your surroundings. Why don't you stand up and walk around a little."

Glancing over to Cassie's mother to get her nod of approval Ranma slowly rose out of his seat, realizing right away that the pitch of his own voice was not the only thing affected.

Cassie covered her mouth in a vain attempt to hide her giggles as she watched Ranma slowly almost drunkenly walk around as his senses tried to adjust to his current disposition.

Pausing as he slightly stumbled past Sam Ranma exclaimed, "I'm not short!"

Laughing lightly as the currently not teen Ranma started to use his hand to gauge the height differences between his current self and the three women in the room Sam tried to get his attention with, "Why don't you go take a look in the mirror."

Stepping over to the rooms bathroom and glancing in Ranma immediately spun around and embarrassingly offered, "Sorry Jack… Didn't realize you were in there."

Laughing because Ranma apparently still hadn't caught on to how the device was working Cassie corrected, "That's not Jack Ranma that's you."

"Wait what… But I thought you said that there was a preprogrammed avatar thingy programmed into it, not Jack."

"The Colonel's appearance is the current programmed avatar for that device, remember I said that we came across these devices during a foothold situation where the base was temporarily taken over by a race of hostile aliens."

"Yeah..."

"Well the Colonel was one of those captured."

"So I get to go around as Jack? Won't I look silly going to school as him, I mean no offence but jack is pretty old."

Hiding her snort of amusement at Ranma using Jacks voice to call the lanky colonel old Cassie said, "Ranma I think that Sam is going to change the avatar on the device so you'll fit in better."

"Ohh…" Came the somewhat dejected reply before Ranma immediately perked up to ask, "Can I keep the extra height?"

Shaking her head negatively Sam stated, "No, sorry Ranma but we're going to keep your avatars as close to you as we can, just in case the device fails."

Not giving the Ranma a chance to dwell on the matter Janet walked over and started to guide him back over to the bench while saying, "Now we have a lot to do today, so we're going to have to get a move on."

"Mom?" Cassie questioned, "I thought we were on bed rest for the day?"

"Well…" Janet drawled out slowly, "Technically, but I just thought that you two might want to go out and get a bit of fresh air… But that's okay, If you're not up to it then we can stay here. Right Sam."

"Right, Janet. I mean it's not like you had anything special planed for today anyway." Sam answered innocently.

"Well now that you mention it… There was something that we were going to do today, but if these two want to sit around here lounging all day we can always do it some other time."

"Sunday? Then." Sam questioned back.

Shaking her head negatively Janet replied, "No that won't work, Monday maybe?"

"Can't off world for most of the day. Tuesday?"

"Double shift while Warner is attending a medical conference in Houston."

Tapping her chin while examining the two puzzled teens before her Sam stated somewhat remorseful sounding, "Well I guess we can put it off for another month or two… You know when our schedules clear up a bit."

"Hmm… That could work… good idea." Janet supplied while managing to maintain an air of total seriousness.

"Uhm mom?"

"Yes honey?"

"Uhmm… What were we going to do today?" Cassie supplied as she glanced between the two adults in the room.

"Oh it's nothing sweetie… Just a little errand at the DMV…"

123454321

Several hours and a few hearing tests later.

12321

"So can I drive?" Cassie asked as she admired her newly laminated license while walking to the car.

"I suppose." Janet replied slowly as she held the key's out to the side.

"Thanks mom… Come on Ranma you can take shotgun." Cassie hurriedly supplied as she latched onto the current girls hand and raced off in a near blur towards the car.

"Wow… I don't think I've ever seen her move that fast before." Sam stately slowly as she tracked the two girls through the parking lot. "So shopping next then?"

"Yep."

"Think we'll make it?"

Wincing as she heard her brakes squeal as her precious daughter backed out of the parking spot Janet shot out a solemn, "Miracles have been known to happen."

"Think they'll realize that they're forgetting us?"

Janet whom had been staring wistfully into the distance as her daughters current actions combined with what had happened earlier that week had her thinking about just how close she had come to losing her little girl snapped out of her daydream and barked out, "GIRL'S GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT or there's no ice-cream tonight…"

Noting that the car continued on for a moment before coming to a stop and expertly performing a three point turn to before heading back towards them Sam muttered, "Well, it looks like Ranma's hearing has recovered."

"A little piece of advice when dealing with teenage girls and occasionally teenage girls." Janet began to offer.

"Oh? And what would that be. Oh wise and great one."

"Ice cream is the ultimate motivator, just dangle it in front of them and they will do your bidding."

"Really now?" Sam replied with no small amount of disbelief.

"Well, most of the time anyway." The short doctor replied with a halfhearted shrug as her car rolled to a stop in front of the two of them.

"Sorry mom." Cassie called out apologetically from the driver's seat as she hung her head, "Got a little carried away… It won't happen again."

Seeing the crestfallen look on her daughters face and realizing that she was unbuckling Janet stepped over to the driver side's rear door and asked, "What are you doing? You just took your test and you're going to drive without your seatbelt on?

"But… I thought…"

"Cassie dear relax, everyone makes mistakes. Besides it's not like you actually made it out of the parking lot before coming back for us."

Not missing the grateful look Cassandra shot Ranma, Sam was forced to hide her smirk while asking, "We better hurry up if we are going to have time to stop and pick up some ice cream, we still have a few more things to take care of before we can call it a day."

"No we are not going to go car shopping for you." Janet stated dryly as she noticed her daughters somewhat apprehensive contemplative look before adding, "Ranma's going to need a few more things before she starts school next week."

"So to the mall then?" Cassie asked with a smile as she realized that this was going to be her chance to start to introduce Ranma into American culture.

"Well we could go to the mall or we could go to some of the other shops around the mall. It's up to Ranma really." Janet supplied as she glanced over at Sam.

Sam after talking it over with both Janet and Doctor Mackenzie had decided to slowly over the coarse of the weekend to integrate Ranma into situations where he or in the current case she would have to interact with people her own age. It was part of the effort to get Ranma ready to attend school full time, the other part was for Ranma to with attending half day's at first and slowly build up from there. Of course, Ranma wouldn't actually be leaving the school after her classes, no after Ranma's regular classes were finished for the day the teen would then meet with a private tutor paid for by the sgc in the school to help with those subjects in which she was lacking in.

So with that in mind and not wanting Ranma to get overly stressed Sam felt it necessary to add, "The shops around the mall are probably going to be less crowded so we'll be able to get more done today if we go there."

Ranma bit down on her lip somewhat nervously, while it was true that she was doing better as of late she still did not like feeling overly crowded places. And when she was being honest with herself being stared at like a piece of meat by other guys really bothered her on more than a few levels, especially with what had nearly happened to her and Cassie shortly after they first met.

Shaking that thought out of her mind the car's younger redhead attempted give a gracious counter offer, "It's not really necessary, I'm sure I can make due with what I already have… Besides everyone has already given me so much…"

"Ranma… Really it's no problem. Besides there's a lot of sales going on this weekend." Sam offered back before being cut off by Cassie with,

"Yeah Ranma, a lot of the stores are running clearance sales to make room for the fall fashions… So it would really be a crime to not pick up something while prices are as low as they are."

The teen in question gulped audibly as it looked like she was going to be in it for the long haul. Sighing as she hung her head in resignation while thinking, _"Maybe it won't be that bad. I'm wearing the special soap that Sam brought me… So it's not like I have to worry about changing… then again I haven't really had any random transformations… Maybe it won't be that bad… The DMV wasn't, everyone was busy being too excited or miserable to notice me."_

"So what will it be? The Mall or the other surrounding stores?" Janet asked as they began to close in on the general area.

"The other stores I guess." Ranma replied somewhat apprehensively.

"OK then, Cassie take a left up at the next light and pull into the shoe store." the redheaded doctor stated while reaching forward to squeeze the other redhead's shoulder in support.

12345654321

Ranma sat in quite awe as she tried to take the stores selection of various footwear, it had been explained to her that one needed different styles of shoes for different occasions but that only confused her more as how many occasions where there that needed different shoes. Sighing as she visually broke off contact with the stores wares in favor of looking at her sole nylon enclosed foot the redhead couldn't help but wonder what exactly she had gotten into. _"If I were a guy I wouldn't even need anymore shoe's… Sure I understand why they would prefer me to be off base as a girl… even with the new device and soap Sam explained that there was still a chance of them failing at a inconvenient time and staying as a girl for school does make sense." _Shuddering as she realized something Ranma mentally shifted gears,_ "Well at least I don't have to take gym class… Instead Sam said something about JROTC… dunno what that is but Cassie takes it so it won't be that bad."_

Shaking her head to try to clear away thoughts of school the teen tried to get back to the matter at hand and began glancing around the store from her seated position. She was still having a hard time fathoming what use some of the footwear could possibly have as many of the ones on display looked downright unpractical for daily use. Realizing that she wasn't getting anywhere with her current line of thought the short redhead tried to observe what types of shoes other people were wearing and trying on.

She knew from her interactions with Sam and Cassie that they mostly preferred gym shoes of some type with the exception of when Sam was in uniform as then she would wear the same boots everyone else at the base wore. Cassie's mother was a different story though as she realized that the older woman was only slightly taller than her but still managed to tower over her by several inches because of the shoes she wore.

For several minutes Ranma flip-flopped the idea over in her head before nervously standing up and carefully making her way over to the nearest set of shoes with a heel. Grabbing a hold of the high cut plain brown leather boot Ranma brought It down to her nylon encased foot to gauge its fit. Noting that the heel to tip looked to match up with her foot she bent down on her shoe clad foot to reach down to slip the boot on the other foot.

Blinking as it slid on easily enough Ranma started to straighten out her legs only to jump slightly as a voice from behind her asked,

"Find something you like?"

"Oh hi Cassie…" Ranma stated somewhat nervously as she teetered unsteadily on what was now an obviously too large boot before continuing with, "Nah… Was just trying this on… seeing how it fit… you know."

"Really now?" Cassie questioned somewhat dubiously before wrapping one arm around her waist and bringing the other up so she could tap her chin in contemplation while she circled her friend. "Well for starters…" She started with a smile as Ranma gulped nervously, "That boot is way too big for you… I won't even get into the style and color of the boot."

"What's wrong with how it looks?" Ranma stated defensively.

"Well nothing…" Cassie stated as she prepared a rant on why those were the worst possible selection as far as boots went. However she forced herself to trail off when she realized her friend was starting to deflate and slink back into herself. Not wanting to upset the current girl she gently continued, "Sorry about that I can get a little animated about fashion every now and then." Motioning for Ranma to remove the boot she continued, "This boot has a stiletto heal and is really narrow in the toe. They're not really made for everyday use. Or were you looking for something more of a special occasion boot?"

Setting the boot back on the shelf Ranma awkwardly started, "Everyday… I mean…"

Having a flash of inspiration over what Ranma was not mentioning due to at the time his reaction to being taller earlier that day Cassie nodded while looking around and said, "Well, why don't we go an isle over I saw several pairs over there that were much more sensible looking."

"Ah ok…" Ranma sighed in partial relief as she hopped over to retrieve her shoe.

1234321

Upon leaving the shoe store the sometimes girl had to restrain herself from juggling the six boxes that contained five of her newest possessions, as the sixth contained the set of running shoes she had worn in. lost in thought while she waited for Cassie to open up the trunk of the car Ranma realized that the little foray she had just had hadn't been nearly as stressful as her last time out with Jack and Sam.

Behind the two teens in the breezeway of the store having not yet stepped forward to activate the automatic doors Sam turned her head quizzically at her companion.

Almost as if she was reading her friends mind Janet drew upon her own experience and said, "While Ranma might be on the shorter side of average in Japan, over here the height difference between her and her peers is more evident and a little bit of extra height can go a long way in restoring someone's self confidence."

"A little bit? We had to talk her out of getting stilts." Sam replied dubiously.

"They weren't stilts Sam… it was only a six inch heal…." Janet replied with a shake of her head as she began to step forward, "Besides I wear six inch heals all the time."

It wasn't like Sam was trying to be judgmental over the issue, it was just that she herself was beginning to feel a bit out of her element and was trying to steady her nerves with the recent life changing decision she was preparing to make. A teen girl was one thing but add in the fact that that teen girl also happened to be a teenage boy whom had his whole world shattered and reassembled only to shatter again had her feeling overwhelmed with doubts. Catching her coworker and friend before she activated the door Sam hurriedly tried to explain, "I'm not trying to judge… It's just that…"

"I know… And you'll do fine. Now come on we got two more stores to get to before we head over to the super discount mart."

"Yes dear. Sam replied good naturally as she followed the petite doctor out the door.

Approaching the car Janet shot Ranma a quick curious look before shaking her head and thinking, "_Well she's doesn't seem unsteady on those anymore. I'm pretty sure this is her first set of 4 inch heels, then again it's not like she doesn't have amazing balance regardless…" _Switching her attention over to her daughter she asked, "Do you want me to drive?"

"Huh… No… I'll drive…" Cassie stated somewhat distracted as she tore her attention from her redheaded friend. Moving over to the driver's side door she paused briefly to hesitantly ask, "Mom?"

"Yes hun?"

"Uhm I was wondering… That since Ranma is going to be starting school next week… If maybe she could spend the night tonight… To you know… Get a feel for… Uhm…"

Shaking her head at her daughters floundering Janet cut her off with, "I suppose it would be okay, if Ranma wants to."

"Want to what?" Ranma asked somewhat cluelessly as she effortlessly spun around on her new four inch heeled boots having not been paying attention while she focused on her walking.

"Spend the night." Cassie blurted out quickly as she nervously fumbled with the keys.

"Sure I guess… But what about… You know…"

"It's fine we'll all camp out in the living room tonight, get a couple movies, order a pizza, make some popcorn…" Janet replied as she glanced over at Sam.

"Sure… It'll be fun…" The blond astrophysicist replied knowing that she and Janet had already talked it over when they were making the plans for the day. "But I do need to go back to the base later to pick up Ranma's pendant."

Nodding because she knew that Sam had left the device at the mountain so that a few of the other SGC scientists could look it over and run a few tests on it before Ranma used it to ensure the teens safety Janet replied, " No problem, Cassie and I can head back once we're done and get things ready…" Giving her daughter a sly grin the redheaded doctor teased, "Seems like someone has been rather lax in their chores as of late."

"Mooommm…"

123454321

Later that night

12321

Sam grinned slyly as she came to a stop and killed the engine. Cocking her head to glance over at her passenger she asked, "So how was that?"

Ranma sat frozen in place with her hands latched tightly onto two convenient handles as she tried to mentally articulate just how she felt about their little trip from the mountain to Cassie's house.

Frowning slightly in concern when her redheaded passenger failed to answer her Sam twisted a bit in her seat and asked, "Ranma? Are you alright?"

Hearing the older woman's concern Ranma snapped herself out of her brief escape to gasp out, "Alright? Am I alright?"

Nodding a she extracted herself from her bike so that she could check on her traveling companion Sam repeated, "Are you okay? You didn't answer me yet."

Grinning as she allowed the older woman to remove the helmet covering her head the redheaded teen let out an awestricken gasp as she tried to get her breathing under control before excitedly replying, "That was amazing… It was… was… Like I was…" Ranma paused, having the English word that she was trying to say escape her before shifting her arms out to her sides to demonstrate the word.

"Flying?" Sam asked as she shook her head at the teens apparent excitement.

""Yes… Flying…" Ranma replied with a broad smile as she slid off the bike.

Ruffling the girls short cropped hair with her hand as she guided her towards Janet's house Sam good-naturedly replied back, "That wasn't flying…" seeing the questionable glance shot back at her the blond major continued, "That was just driving…" scrunching her eyes up in thought she then added, "Well I guess it is sort of like flying… It is a lot of fun though…"

"Sam?" Ranma asked rather suddenly as she came to a stop at the top step.

"Yes Ranma?" Sam asked in brief confusion before she got a good look at the sometime's girl's eyes.

"Do you think you can show me how to drive one?"

Scrunching her face together in thought Sam answered honestly, "I'm not sure… I mean I'm pretty sure I can but I need to check a few things first."

"YOU'RE HERE" Cassie squealed as she opened the door carrying a tied off white plastic bag. Pulling the other girl with her free hand she continued, "Come with me for a sec while I take out the trash." Shooting her blonde aunt a smile over her shoulder she added, "Mom's inside… Pizza's on the way."

1234321

Sliding off her shoes as she stepped into the house Sam called out, "Janet?"

"In the living room…"

"Okay…"

"Everything go alright?"

Glancing around at the neatly arranged sleeping bags on the floor to the folded out hide a bed Sam replied, "Yeah, the device seems to be functioning normally and is maintaining a charge as long as Ranma has it on." Snapping her fingers as she remembered something important she added, "Oh and Ranma broke the record… Well technically I broke the record as I was testing the avatar on myself at the time, but it only took Ranma five minutes of wearing it to give the device a twenty minute charge."

"Good news then?" Janet asked unsurely.

"Well for the most part," Sam replied, "It does open a lot of avenues for us to explore with these devices… I just don't want Ranma to think we are just trying to use her as a battery though."

"Not to change the subject or anything though… But did you explain to Ranma about the JROTC."

"I told her that while we weren't going to force her to take it if she didn't want to but that she would have to choose because taking one of them is a mandatory requirement. But now I'm thinking that we might be able to skip that for now and just enroll Ranma in driver's-ed."

"What did Ranma say?"

"Well she choose the JROTC but I didn't think of asking about the driver's ed until she asked about learning to drive a bike. I have to check with General Hammond and there's probably some red tape in the way but it should be doable."

"Want my advice?"

"Sure…" Sam replied as she took a seat while watching her friend place the last bits of bedding in position.

"Ranma has a lot on his… her plate right now. She's going to be spending a lot more time as a girl for school, then there's school, kids her own age, and that's a lot for anyone… "

Nodding her head in agreement Sam started to reply, "I know…" Unfortunately before she continue with what she was saying her adopted niece called out from the front door, "Pizza's here."

Motioning that they would continue the conversation later away from the two teens Janet began to make her way to her purse.

"So what movies did you get anyway? Anything good?"

"Not sure…" Janet replied with a glance, "haven't seen either of them before."

"what are they about?" the blond astrophysicist asked as she followed behind her friend.

"Well one is some sort of comedy involving 2 boy's who wind up at a gymnastics camp for the summer…" pausing so she could gauge the major's reaction Janet then added, "The second is a coming of age story about two girls."

Sam paused briefly in mid step before nodding her acceptance while adding, "I suppose that you picked that one out especially for Ranma then?"

"Well basically…" Janet started,, "It's one of those lifetime movies so it should have some helpful insight."

"Helpful insight?" Sam asked doubtfully.

"Well as helpful as anything can be with someone in Ranma's situation." Janet answered back before coming to a stop at the door and only spotting a relatively handsome teenage pizza delivery guy who seemed to be looking around in confusion.

Spotting Ranma's new boots by the door and a pair that hadn't been there before Sam shook her head ruefully as she realized why the pizza guy looked so lost as it appeared that he might not be used to being blown off by what appeared to be two girls.

123454321

A few minutes later

123454321

Having taken the pizza's from the delivery guy while Janet paid Sam found herself hit with a stray thought from the previous conversation. With her curiosity getting the better of her she asked, "Gymnastics? No kung fu movies?"

"Huh? Oh right… Well that ones not so much for the kids as it is for me." Seeing that her friend was unrelenting in her gaze Janet continued somewhat smugly, "I'll have you know I was called the Red Rose of 'Our Grace's Merry Vineyard' gymnastic team in high school… Did pretty good if I do say so myself…"

"Pretty good?" Sam parroted lightly.

"Well, went to state, regional's and nationals… would have went to the Olympics but I sprained my ankle in a skiing accident a week before." Janet replied wistfully as she briefly reminisced about her youth.

"Oooh… Didn't know… Wow… Sorry to hear about that…" Sam started with obvious remorse showing for her friend.

"No… It's okay."

"It's okay?" Sam repeated doubtfully, "It's the Olympics… That's a once in a lifetime…"

"Oh trust me…" Janet interrupted with a growing smile as she remembered what happened back then, "Sure I was a bit disappointed at first… But

Well then there was this guy…"

Shaking her head once again in disbelief the blonde major muttered, "A guy? A guy, helped you forget about the Olympics?"

"Well… He was quite remarkable…" Janet quipped back her eyes taking on a slightly obsessive look as the woman brought the back of one hand up to her mouth in an attempt to stifle the slightly disturbing bought of laughter she felt the need to release, making it appear to anyone watching that she was hiding a yawn.

.

1234321

Somewhat later

123454321

"Wasn't there more to this at the store?" Ranma questioned with a blush as she looked up into the mirror at the outfit she was wearing.

"I had to put that one back… it was too big for you."

"Isn't bigger supposed to be better?" Ranma called out as she fruitlessly tried to tug the tight form fitting blue cami down before turning slightly and sighing in relief that at least the red shorts that came with the outfit covered her backside, if just barely.

"Not always." Cassie called out with a slight snort that she tried to mask with a slight cough.

"What's so funny?" The redhead questioned cluelessly as she opened the door.

Having already changed into one of her favorite long sleeved full-length nightgowns while Ranma had been preoccupied in the bathroom the brunette teased out, "Oh nothing…" Only to trail off and avert her eyes to hide her blush as her friend left the bathroom.

"Are you sure it's not too small? Seems awfully small…" Ranma asked doubtfully as she nervously shuffled her feet while her hands maintained a constant vigil with her clothing's hemlines.

"It's supposed to fit like that Ranma…" Cassie stated as she quickly looked over the tight formfitting super girl themed sleepwear that her friend was wearing. However as her gaze shifted the outfits trademark 'S' she got an idea, spinning on her heals and heading over to her dresser she stated, "It is missing something though."

"I'm not wearing the cape…" The redhead to herself as she began regretting pulling things randomly off of the racks while not really paying attention to some of the things she had picked out, it had been sleepwear after all.

Giggling lightly as she over heard her friends mumblings while she rifled through her drawers the taller girl went to retort but cut herself short as she found what she was looking for, "Ah here… Wear these…"

Not spotting what Cassie was holding Ranma moved over to the side hoping that what ever it was didn't leave her feeling as exposed as what she was currently wearing, "_I suppose it's okay though since it's just Me, Cassie, her Mom and Sam… It's not like anyone else is going to be here…"_ Relaxing at that thought the sometimes girl allowed herself to relax a bit only to give the other girl a curious look as she noticed what she was holding, "Cassie? Glasses?"

"It's the Superman disguise…" Cassie stated while unfolding them and lifting them up to place on Ranma's face. Noting the confused expression on the redheads face she continued, " Well not exactly… Superman doesn't wear glasses… His alter ego the Clark Kent does… But his disguise is that when he's superman he doesn't wear the glasses and somehow no one ever can put the two faces together despite the only real difference being a pair of glasses."

"So glasses mean normal?" Ranma questioned unsure as to why she was feeling an odd sensation of relief at the idea of wearing them.

"Basically." Cassie stated with a smile as she positioned the glasses on the shorter girls head.

"Just one question though…" Ranma asked as she turned to a mirror to smile at her reflection."

"Sure what's that?"

"Who's Superman?"

123454321

Later that night

1234321

Staring absentmindedly at the rolling credits flowing across the TV screen Cassie scooted closer to the slumbering redhead laying on the floor next to her, taking in the soft almost musical snores that Ranma was emitting as she slept peacefully. With a confused sigh the former simple farm girl from Hanka closed her eyes knowing that sleep would be a long time coming as her thoughts were too busy analyzing the film for her to get any rest.

123454321

The next day around noon

12321

Ranma nearly cheered out loud from her position on the back of Sam's bike as she felt the Major accelerate once again after coming out of a turn. She wasn't sure on where they were going and being honest with herself at the moment she didn't care, no all that mattered to her at the moment were the feeling of the wind fluttering around her and the feelings of freedom it inspired. To her it was almost as if she was back on the road with her pops traveling across the rooftops during one of their daily spars

"HOLD ON TIGHT…" Sam called out with a grin as she began her merge onto the interstate.

Thankful that the helmet kept her face hidden so the Major couldn't see her blush over the close contact Ranma called back, "WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

Realizing that she didn't have to yell to talk to Ranma because of the teens enhanced senses Sam answered, "I figured that we could just drive around for a bit while we wait for Janet and Cassie to finish up."

1234321

A short time later

1234321

"Well? What do you think? Looks good right?" Jack smiled as he showed off the handy work of the male members of SG1.

"I suppose it looks alright…" Janet muttered back in contemplation as she took in the newly redecorated spare room at Sam's house. "Doesn't seem to have a lot of personality to it but that's something that Ranma would have to take care of herself once she settle's in."

"Oh come on mom it's great…" Cassie crowed enthusiastically before turning to give the lanky colonel a hug, "I'm sure Ranma will love it."

Semi awkwardly patting the enthused teen on the back Jack returned, "I hope he… I mean… She does. I worked long and hard on it…"

"Ahem…" Daniel announced from the doorway, "Don't let him fool you, all he was doing is making trips to the store while Teal'c and I did all the grunt work."

"Hello?" Jack grinned, "Team leader here… besides I had to pick out all the furniture, match it with the paint, coordinate the tapestries, pick up the beer and the pizza…" Snapping his fingers the snarky CO added, "Oh that reminds me you still owe me ten dollars for the food."

Rolling his eyes at his friend, Daniel went to pull out his wallet but stopped himself short as he looked around and realized that besides a dried coat of light blue paint the walls were pretty bare, "Wait a sec… What tapestries?"

"What tapestries?" Jack parroted back as he made his way towards the closet.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what I asked, Jack." Daniel fired back sarcastically.

"Well for starters…" Jack started before glancing over to Teal'c and motioning for a drum roll only to receive an inquisitive eyebrow in return causing the snarky man to go on a brief good natured rant about how Jaffa could take the fun out of everything, during which time the eyebrow directed at him had taken a more sinister tint. Fortunately Jack was able to recover from the dreadful glare and ceremoniously add while swinging open the closet door, "This fine tapestry... How's that for personality doc?"

Silence filled the room for several seconds before Daniel was able to find his voice, "Jack?" He asked calmly

"Yeah…" Came the colonels almost relieved sigh, not relief in the way a few of the people were looking at him, but rather relief that if they were going to react as they were then perhaps it would be best he didn't point out the other fine tapestry that was located behind the bedroom door.

"You can't be serious… You're joking right?" Daniel replied as he stared at a high healed long legged busty blonde Asian girl whom in the poster was performing a side kick of sorts while wearing nothing more than what appeared to be the tattered remains of a little black dress. Appeared to be, because the more the archeologist stared at it the less certain he was of what she was wearing as the tattered clothing only just covered her chest before it fell apart only to reform just below the girls hips.

"What's wrong with it?" Jack asked as he glanced over to Teal'c just in time to see the large man shrug in response showing that large Jaffa was just as lost as he was.

"This is supposed to be a girl's room, Jack…" Daniel sighed in mild irritation before he continued, "Girls don't have nearly naked pictures of girls hanging in their room…"

"Yeah… So… Ranma's a guy too… And guy's like this sort of thing… I should know, I am a guy after all."

Cassie was half tempted to ask in jest, 'Does that make me a guy too?' as a comeback to the colonel's reasoning but decided against it in favor of keeping the awkwardness in the room down to manageable levels as she wasn't so sure that she would be just joking about it because her mind was still trying to sort itself out from the movie the night before.

Shaking her head because she was about to let herself be drawn into the usual semi pointless banter that the Colonel loved to instigate Janet announced, "Actually, While I'm not going to say it's a good idea…" wrinkling her nose at the smut on the closet door the redheaded doctor added, "But… Well I think it should be up to Ranma on whether or not she wants to keep it up…This is going to be her room and so it should be her choice…"

"You know…" Cassie started after having a few thoughts occur to her, "It's not really just a guy thing… A lot of my friends… Uhm former friends…" The teen corrected somewhat dejectedly before moving on to her point, "Anyway… A lot of girls do have pictures and posters of other girls hanging up." "_Course most of the time it's just cause they like the hair, outfit or need motivation for a diet."_

_123454321_

Meanwhile with Ranma and sam

12321

"Here you go…" Sam said as she offered her companion a double chocolate waffle cone topped off with three scoops of dark chocolate chip ice-cream covered in a candied chocolate shell.

"Thank you…" Ranma gingerly replied as she carefully reached out to accept the kami of all ice-cream cones.

"You're welcome…" Sam replied as she leaned on her bike casually so she could keep the still seated redhead in her line of sight. After waiting a few moments in which she took advantage by slowly picking at her own meager small sundae while fighting back jealous thoughts about the small petite girls metabolism the blonde astrophysicist asked, "So are you all psyched up about school?"

Sighing briefly as she readjusted the glasses Cassie had given her the redhead replied, "I don't know… I guess…"

Thinking that the sometimes girl needed a bit of prompting Sam supplied, "You guess… I know it's going to be tough on you but it's worth it in the end…"

"Yeah… I know…" Ranma drawled out softly, "It's just I never really went to school a whole lot before and that was…" Pausing to gesture to herself Ranma continued with, "Before all this happened… Now… I just don't know…"

"Well if it gets too much for you we can always make other arraingments . It's just that… Don't get me wrong, we like having you around at the base." Shaking her head slightly Sam continued, "It's as I said before."

"I know." Ranma admitted reluctantly, "I'm okay with it I guess."

"What about living at the base?" Sam asked in an attempt to break the awkward silence that had befallen them, "Do you like it there?"

"It's okay…" Then teen tried noncommittally before clarifying with, "It's not like there's a lot of options for me."

"What if there were?" Sam asked despite the fact that the decision had already been made, "You could live off the base, you'd have to stay with someone, I know there are plenty of spare rooms floating about." Looking over into the redhead's shiny blue orbs the blonde major offered, "You could stay with me. I don't live that far from Janet so you'll be able to hang out with Cassandra."

"What about my training?" Came the conflicted reply as the teen mulled the offer over.

"You are always more than welcome to come back to the base to train after school, and there are weekends…" Sighing as her companion remained conflicted Sam started again, this time deciding to tell the complete truth, "I need to be honest with you Ranma, right now everyone is over at my house putting the finishing touches on a bedroom for you…" reaching out and clasping her hand down on the sometimes girls shoulder to forestall any interruptions Sam continued with, "It's not what you think, we weren't going to force it on you. But Colonel O'Neill felt that if we surprised you with it you'd be more likely to accept the offer."

Ranma sighed as she stared down at the half eaten cone in her hand, knowing full well that Sam was speaking the truth as she felt very reluctant to leave the safe confines of the mountain to live in the open around so many people. She also realized that the Major was right in the other regard as well because if they had shown her the room and then offered her to stay there she would have probably accepted it just so she wouldn't feel like she was letting the others down.

"I know… I'm sorry Ranma but we truly do want what's best for you, and living on a base isn't it, you should be out enjoying yourself, spending time making friends, and doing other things that teens your own age do. You're only young once…"

"I guess…" Ranma drawled out softly before continuing in nearly inaudible whisper, "But what about?"

"Ranma…" Sam sighed guessing that the short haired redhead was going to ask about the Goa'uld, "Maybe in a few years, it all depends. Right now you need to concentrate on yourself and not worry about that, we've been taking care of things our there for awhile and we're not going to be going anywhere anytime soon." pausing to glance around again the blonde major shook her head, "_It's not that we don't want Ranma's help, he would be a great help, eventually, but right now as my Colonel says, 'Ranma should just be focusing on being a teen right now and leave the Goa'uld to us. " _Coughing lightly as she struggled to keep the warm feelings of just how hard Jack had fought to give the teen a shot at something other than life on the base the astrophysicist added, "You don't have to decide now if you don't want to… I know we are putting you on the spot with this and if you want to stay at the base it'll be okay, we'll work something out for you."

"No… I don't know… Can I think about it a little more?" Ranma sighed again as she closed her eyes while searching for an answer.

"Sure Ranma, take your time with it… Want to just cruise around for a bit… It always helps me clear my head."

Nodding as she started to place the helmet back on her head Ranma replied, "Thanks'…"

"No problem kiddo." Sam fired back while playfully shaking the headgear on the teens head.

123454321

Several minutes later

12321

Once again Ranma was on the road, riding with Sam as the older woman sped down the interstate with no real destination in mind. Thinking things over the small redhead was even more uncertain on what to do and not even the feel of the wind rushing against her body and the freedom it inspired was helping her with her decision. She could see the sense in what the older blond had said to her, that she should be in school around other people her own age. But the duty driven martial artist in her wanted to fight and help the Americans in their fight. Not just for what Nirrti had done to Cassie and her people, no that had changed in the past day and a half. Sure Cassie was still one of her main reasons for wanting to fight but now as she clung tightly to the Blonde Major's waist as she maneuvered around another 'S' turn in the road Ranma had added several more people to that list.

It seemed to her that everyone she had met at the mountain was going out of their way to help her and had asked little of her in return. Despite herself she could not help but feel guilty and unworthy of everything that they had done and were willing to do for her.

It was that guilt though that made Ranma realize that Sam was right, sure she might not want to do a lot of the things normal teens her age wanted to do but at the same time she realized she wasn't really ready to fight against the Goa'uld as she still had many issues to come to terms with before she could even consider fighting because with things as they were she still had too many self doubts and issues that could be more of a hindrance and distraction to herself and others that could be a fatal mistake in a life or death fight.

"_I'm just not ready yet… One day… But right now Sam and Jack are right." _With her decision made Ranma leaned further into Sam's back and almost too softly for the scientist to hear she announced, "We can go home now… I'm… I mean if you don't mind…"

Sam nodded unsurely as she wasn't quite sure if Ranma was referring to the base or her house as home fortunately, any awkwardness that her asking for clarification would have caused was deemed unnecessary as she felt the young teens arms tighten their hold on her in a hug that differed slightly in that now the redhead was now resting her head up against her back. Then as if her passenger was privy to her uncertain doubts as she heard Ranma softly add, "Cassie tells me I snore though…"

Daring to take one hand off of the handles Sam patted the other girls hand and replied, "Don't worry I have earplugs…"

123454321

Hearing the telltale rumble of Sams bike Cassie tore herself away from organizing Ranma's closet to peer out the window, with an excited shout of, "They're here…" She hastily hung the last few items up and made her way to the front door intent on being the first one to great Ranma and show her to her new home.

Rolling her eyes at her daughters dramatics Janet turned from her position on the bed where she was folding clothes and placing them in the dresser to look over at Daniel whom had been tasked with setting up the new computer they had purchased to help Ranma with her upcoming schoolwork. Seeing that he looked about done she ventured, "Finished?"

"Yeah. All that needs to be done now is setting up the network but Sam is going to have to do that because I don't have her passwords.

Looking down at the neatly sorted pile of undergarments that were sitting next to a pile of sales tags Janet announced, "I just need to put these away and then I'm done… I suppose we should hurry up before Cassie gets back with Ranma."

Awkwardly standing up Daniel shot the doctor an odd look wondering if she meant for him to help her put away the girl's underwear.

Laughing lightly at the deer in headlights look that she was getting from Daniel, Janet clarified while motioning with her arm to the various piles of empty bags and boxes scattered about the room, "What I meant, was since you are finished if you could take out all this trash… That is if you don't mind."

"Oh… Of course…" Daniel sighed out in relief, glad to have dodged a minor bullet.

1234321

"It's this way…" Cassie stated with poorly contained excitement as she practically drug her redheaded friend through Sam's house. "Jack did a really good job with it."

"It appears that we have become minced entrails, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c said from his position down the hall, having decided to not intrude in the small procession that had made their way to the newly decorated room.

"It's chopped liver, T'" Jack supplied smugly as he passed by on his way to catch up with the group.

12321

In Ranma's new room

121

Standing awkwardly in the center of the room as she tried to listen to Cassie's passionate tour of the room Ranma couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. Sure she had rooms to herself before but not before the NID had come along into her life. Before that she had been sharing a tent with her father for the most part with the small exception being the few times where they shared a small room with a common bathroom that they had to share with a multitude of other people

This room though with it's light blue paint and cloudy off white border was hers and hers alone. The dresser, mirror, night stand, desk, computer, twin book shelves they were all hers not some loan from the government, Sam had already told her that whatever was in this room belonged to her regardless of whether or not she decided to stay with her, no matter if they found her family.

"So what do you think Ranma?"

Numb from the shock of just how much effort everyone had put in to make her feel welcome Ranma moved over to the large queen sized bed and plopped herself down on the edge, well tried as due to difference between her height and that of the beds she was forced to hop backwards a little in order to get one it. Staring down at her dangling feet she blinked and tentatively gave the bed a few experimental bounces only to exclaim with wonder, "This has to be the most comfortable bed I've ever seen."

"So I take it you like it?" Sam asked as she smiled down at the teen.

With her command of the English language temporarily forgotten as she struggled to verbally express her gratitude and other emotions for all that had been done for her Ranma nearly settled for nervously shifting on the bed. Of course that had the added benefit for her mind to register something about the bed. Sure she had been sleeping on beds for some time now between the first few weeks she spent with the NID before things got bad and then at the mountain but those beds were nothing compared to the soft cloud she was sitting on at the moment. Giving it a couple of experimental bounces to further test it she shook her head in disbelief and exclaimed, "This bed… It's…"

"I know." Jack smirked as he stepped foreword with a can of soda, "It's the one from the commercials with the bowling ball…" Setting the opened can on the mattress with in a foot of Ranma the older man continued, "Check it out… It won't spill…"

"Jack…" Daniel sighed with a roll of his eyes, "It's just a commercial, it's all staged…"

Waving his friend off Jack offered, "But I tested it out… It works…"

"Sir." Sam stated as she moved forward to relieve the bed of the opened can, "I really don't think that it would be a good idea to try it out before Ranma has even had a chance to sleep in it."

"But I tested it out…" Jack mumbled as he childishly crossed his arms over his chest felicitating a few discrete giggles from his childish antics.

"Well anyway…" Janet announced with a clap of her hands, "Who wants dinner, I'm pretty sure that Sam has a file cabinet of take out menus around here somewhere."

"There're in a box above the fridge." Sam replied helpfully as she turned to retrieve them, "Anybody know what they want?"

"We had pizza last night." Daniel supplied as he went to follow, "But I'm fine with whatever. Though perhaps we should try to find an authentic Japanese place for Ranma."

"Does that sound okay Ranma? Cassandra? " Sam asked as she paused by the door.

"Yes thank you." Ranma replied graciously from the bed, "It's been a while since I've had anything other than the American food."

"We had pizza last night, that's Italian." Cassie supplied helpfully before adding, "Sounds good to me."

Nodding Sam responded, "Okay, looks like its Japanese tonight, We'll just let you get settled for a bit." Pausing once again as she noticed that her CO wasn't following her she added, "Sir?"

"As long as they have cake I'm fine." Jack answered helpfully. Seeing the no nonsense look his XO was giving him he felt compelled to add, "I'll be along in a minute."

"Okay…" Sam offered unsurely as she exited the room while wondering what he was up to before calling over her shoulder, "Oh, keep the door open when you have company Ranma."

"Okay?" Ranma shrugged not really understanding why but not wanting to ask either.

Tearing his gaze away from the retreating majors backside Jack cleared his throat and looked around making sure no one noticed his casual appreciation, noting that Cassie was whispering something into the redheads ear Jack was pretty sure that they hadn't noticed and was going to assume that what ever they were talking about had nothing to do with him, though the way the taller teen was giggling had him second guessing himself. "Anyway, now that she's gone there was something else I wanted to show you."

"Oh right the closet." Cassie exclaimed as she hopped off the bed to show Ranma the poster.

"Err… Actually, there was something else." Jack interrupted while stepping in Cassie's path, "You can show Ranma later, this will just take a sec…" Moving over to the blinds he drew them tight before continuing, "If you don't like it, I can always paint over it but I figured that seeing that you spent a lot of time under the stars… Well…" Jack tried as he moved over to the light switch and flipped it off before motioning up to the ceiling, "I just thought you might want something familiar."

Ranma stared in awe as she gazed up at the ceiling to see a soft glowing mock up of the night sky. Sure not all of the stars were there but the major constellations that had been her constant companions for so many years were all laid out on display. Speechless over yet another display just how well these people that she had known for a short time were treating her she settled for doing something that she as a he probably wouldn't do but yet at the same time just felt right. Scooting off the bed she almost purposely marched over to Jack and tentatively embraced him.

123454321

Genma quietly rose to his feet, careful so as to not disturb his sleeping companion. Only once he had risen and pulled on his gi did he realize the wasted effort in his stealthy movements as he remembered that the young woman had once again forgone joining him in his futon.

Shampoo remained a mystery to him, they had kept their conversations to a minimum, mostly consisting of her repeated demands for either more intensive training or information on when his red haired student would arrive. However that too had changed as of late as for the past week she had not been asking him for any of the more strenuous training and seemed less interested in killing his son turned daughter. Of the recent lack of training requests he was thankful as it also served to dissuade his old friends youngest daughter from seeking him out for training as well.

Of the latter he knew why as Tendo's youngest daughter could barely tolerate his presence as she continually demonstrated that fact by accusing him of being some sort of old perverted letch. And the looks she sent his way were a little too reminiscent of how women had looked at the dreaded master. For the former though he still wasn't sure. Shampoo had cut him off from their nightly endeavors right around the same time that she had stopped with her incessant requests for training so she could kill his son. Stopping to think about it for a moment Genma also considered that the girls eating habits had changed as well as she seemed to be getting a bit more greedy at the plate.

Shrugging as he made his way down the stairs, Genma figured that it did not really matter anyway and that in the worse case scenario the girl was getting bored with him and would soon leave him. That actually made the middle aged man smile as he arrived downstairs, sure he would miss the sex but he really needed to go find Ranma and that was something he couldn't do with the young Amazon following him around.

The smile that had adorned his face quickly fell as he entered the dining room to see that his friend was indeed awake and had risen from his place at the table with a look of complete seriousness on his face.

"Something wrong? Soun old buddy?" Genma questioned only to become slightly worried when instead of replying his former training partner just motioned for him to join him outside.

Exiting the house Soun led his friend over to the Kio pond while taking out a cigarette. After lighting it and taking a few drags he spoke softly, "Genma old friend, I am beginning to have concerns about the arrival of your son. It has been some time and he still has not arrived, my daughters are becoming suspicious that something has happened, and I have to admit to having these concerns as well."

Genma sighed, part of him wanted to come clean with Soun primarily out of the life long friendship and countless hardships they had suffered together under the master. That admittedly small part was quashed though as for the moment he could not afford the risk that his friend would have a negative reaction the news, which would in turn force him to look for Ranma before he figured out what to do about his other problem. _"Though… Perhaps Soun would be willing to allow Shampoo to stay here while I go looking for Ranma… Then again she might think that I am going after the girl that defeated her and insist on following me. And while my boy would have no problem dealing with her it would be a unwelcome distraction." _Deciding that in this case perhaps a measure of truth was warranted the bald man started with a sigh, "Soun, the truth is that before parting ways I tasked my son with an important task that only someone of his exceptional skill could handle… It was only supposed to take a month at the most but it appears that I had overestimated his ability and it is taking him longer than anticipated. Rest assured he will return to us soon and if not then I will personally seek him out and bring him back here." Adding in another sigh for good measure the dubious man continued, "If I do that then our return shall be further delayed as I will be forced to administer remedial training for his failure at being able to complete the task set before him… He is my son Soun… I would rather see him complete this task on his own than infringe upon his eventual triumph."

Nodding his head in understanding the long haired man replied, "So you sent him on a mastery quest? Why would you keep this secret from me?"

"I did not want to get your hopes up as I had begun to have second thoughts about his ability to complete the quest in the short time allotted. It appears that my concerns were well founded as he has not yet returned to me." Genma answered in relief for his friends gullibility.

"Very well then dear friend, I shall endeavor to explain the importance of this matter to my daughters… But I do not think that this news will keep them placated for long." Satisfied that he now had a better handle on the situation the mustachioed man switched to a more pleasant tone to ask, "It's early yet. Kasumi has not yet started breakfast, would you like to start a quick game of go in the meantime?"

Genma nodded slowly hoping to keep just how relieved he was hidden before replying, "In a moment Tendo, I would like a moment to my thoughts."

"Very well, I'll just go in and set up the game board."

Genma sagged in relief the moment he heard the screen door close. Turning back to face the exterior wall that surrounded then Tendo's yard while muttering, "Boy where are you… I can't just keep stalling them… they are starting to get too suspicious… For the sake of our schools I can't afford to alienate them…"

12321

Hidden eyes narrowed in suspicion as they watched the barrel chested man turn away and wander back into the house.

123454321


	8. Chapter 8

I'm not sure if I ever posted this on a forum, but if I had I'm pretty sure that it has been through some changes. Many thanks to James Axelrad for his help with this.

First half of Chapter next of Rebirth of the undomesticated equine.

"Carter…" Jack greeted with a smile as he looked down at his watch.

Rolling her eyes as she already knew what the man wanted to know the blonde major replied, "No Sir, I haven't heard from Ranma yet. School only just ended a little while ago."

"I still think we should have a party… Something with Cake?" Jack shot back.

"I don't know sir, Ranma seemed really nervous this morning before Cassandra got there to take her to school.

Shrugging Jack replied, "It's just first day jitters, Ranma will be fine… The kids been through a lot and this is nothing compared to some of those things."

"I don't know." Sam replied uncertainly, "Maybe we should have let her go as a him."

Shaking his head the somewhat silver haired colonel stated, "Out of our hands, those butt licking toadies in Washington won't allow it. And I even see their point, if the doohickeys fail we risk…"

"I know sir… exposure…" Sam finished with a sigh, "I just wish there was more we could do to help her… him…"

"Me too… Carter… Me too…" Jack added softly as he set a hand down upon the Majors shoulder, "But for now it's all we can do. Besides the kid's pretty resilient, just needs to get his mojo back."

"I suppose…" Sam stated rather skeptically.

123454321

Glancing over to the redheaded girl riding shotgun in the car with her Cassie couldn't help but sigh sadly. _"Things had been going so well… Well at least until third period, I don't know what happened there and Ranma still won't tell me… I'm pretty sure that it wasn't first day jitters… Maybe a little bit but she seemed fine for JROTC and Home Ec. Something must have happened between her Math class and the tutoring sessions…" _Letting out another sigh as they neared the turn off to the 2 lane highway that would take them up to the mountain the brunette asked, "You want to stop for some ice-cream? My treat?"

"No…" Ranma fired back rather sullenly, "I just want to get back to the base so I can spend some time as a guy."

"Ranma? Please tell me what's wrong… Did something happen after we split up this morning? You were awfully quiet during lunch too… I thought that you were just nervous and all…"

Despite the fact that she already knew that she could trust the other girl Ranma was still having problems forming the words. The reasoning for it was not her passable English but rather the embarrassing subject matter behind her foul mood. Sighing because she knew that talking about it would help, thanks in part to her sessions with Doc McKenzie Ranma muttered, "I'm a guy…"

"Uhm… Okay?" Cassie replied unsurely, "I know."

Staring down at her fists Ranma tried to continue, "I'm a guy who's wearing 3" clunky heeled boots, tight tan slacks and despite the fact that I am wearing two shirts neither of them make me look any less girly."

"I thought you liked the clothes? I mean I made a few suggestions but I didn't know that it would bother you this much… I thought you liked them…" Cassie replied feeling more than a little guilty as she wondered if she had pushed the sometimes girl into getting clothes that she didn't want.

"No it's not that…" Ranma answered feeling like a heel, "I don't mind any of the things you picked out for me. Well except for those thongs… Stupid perverts and panty lines" Ranma added with a mumble knowing while she wasn't limited to wearing one specific kind of undergarment as long as she chose to wear the nicer slacks in her wardrobe she was pretty much stuck with them. She didn't really understand herself in the matter as the slacks had been her choice and she could have easily went with looser jeans or a multitude of other options. And it wasn't because she was dressing overly feminine as she did not own a single dress or skirt at the at the moment. It was more of a case of her wanting to appear confident and despite her difficulties with actually feeling that way as of late she felt that a confident person wouldn't dress shabbily or like a bum. It's just that now as she was sitting in Cassie's newly acquired car, technically still belonging to the brunettes mother, she realized that perhaps she would have been better off dressing down in something more plain and ambiguous.

Despite herself the brown-haired girl could not help but giggle at the last part as she caught the redhead trying to adjust herself from the corner of her eye.

"Why anyone wears these things I'll never know… It's like all they want to do is climb up there and just when you think they can't wedge themselves in anymore, it's wham… Up there some more…"

Reining in her light laughter at the sullen look the redhead was giving her the brunette asked, "So is that what's wrong? You know you don't have to wear them if you don't want to, we just picked you out an assortment of different styles so you could try them out."

"No… It's not that… Well sort of." Ranma sighed again while shuffling her gaze down to her feet before adding, "I thought I had been doing fine, but once I left you…"

1234321

Flashback

12321

After watching her best friend walk away to go to her own third period class Ranma nervously rechecked her schedule despite knowing that Cassie had brought her to the right room. So far things hadn't been that bad for the sometimes redheaded girl, sure there had been a few whispered comments but nothing that she hadn't been able to block out thanks mainly to Cassie's presence. Now though she was on her own, without a crutch and walking right into the lion's den. Reaching up to straighten up her glasses Ranma steeled her nerves before entering the classroom and moving straight to the teacher's desk.

Unfortunately for her, that's when things started to fall apart for her because almost as soon as she entered the room her heel got caught on something, causing her to stumble and lose her grip on her books sending them sliding across the floor.

Red-faced over the fact that she was a master level martial artist whom had managed to lose their footing on a smooth floor the sometimes girl tried to retrieve her items before she called too much attention to herself. It was a lost cause because the moment she squatted down to retrieve the closest book the whispers started.

"Wow… Check out the new girl…"

"Dude she's wearing a thong…"

"Man I would tear that ass up…"

At first Ranma managed to block them out with the thinking of perhaps they were speaking about some else. Her delusion was not to last though as the next bout of whispers confirmed her fears.

"I heard that she's Chinese or something…"

"Yeah she talks with this funny accent…"

"Screw how she talks man, check out that rack on her."

Sighing sadly Ranma fruitlessly tried to tug down the back of her shirt to cover the very small line of exposed flesh only to realize that her actions were only spurning them on, only now a few girls could be heard offering hushed criticism.

"Why is she even bothering…."

"I dunno… but do you see the way your boyfriend is staring at her?"

"What a skank… Probably needs a green card or something…"

"I dunno… She could be adopted… I think I saw her out shopping last week with this old guy and his wife… And Becky, Fraiser's former best friend… Saw her this past weekend at the DMV with Fraiser when she was getting her license."

"I thought she wasn't talking to any of her friends anymore… Even heard she broke it off with Dominic a few weeks ago…"

"Hello… I said former best friend…"

"Who cares… She's just a loser… Sides Dom was too good for her."

"You don't think that Frasier dumped Dominic this tart? Do you?"

With her nervousness temporarily forgotten Ranma tried to mull over the fact that Cassie had had a best friend before herself. Sure it would make sense because the girl had been on Earth for four years but Ranma had never really thought about it before. But now that she did the idea left her feeling unsettled and wondering if she had been the reason why Cassie had broken off her previous friendships. Of course her current line of thought was put on temporary hold as yet another boy chimed in, a bit louder than the others.

"No way that chicks a lezbo…"

"Oh my god you moron, she'll hear you…" Chided one of the girls voices from before.

"So… What's she gonna do about it? Suckie suckie long time?"

"I'd let her call me Joe and give her five dollars for that." Another voice called out.

"Me so Horny…" the male voice from before called out in a clearly fake stereotypical accent eliciting several snickers, muffled laughes and a few more catcalls from throughout the room.

Charles Bransen was an elderly teacher a few years away from retirement and while he usually gave the kids in his classess a bit of leeway before the bell rang he had managed to hear the last few comments directed at the girl. After sparing the new girl a brief glance to make sure that she was okay the elderly man switched his attention to the rest of the class and sternly commanded, "All right that's enough, Smith, office now and the rest of you take out your books and go over chapter 5, we're going to have a little pop quiz in five minutes and if I hear so much as a peep before then you all will fail… And I don't think some of your classmates will appreciate the blemish on their grade." He was bluffing but it did serve to silence the class which was his intention. Turning back to the girl whom was now approaching him while fumbling with a folded sheet of paper he asked, "Now miss, is there a reason why you're disrupting my class?"

They had been just words and she had not even really understood everything that they had implied about her but the boys mocking tone of voice and fake accent really told her all she had needed to know. Despite herself she couldn't help it as her stomach twisted and churned with what was being suggested of her, only to be made worse when the muffled snickers started. Feeling an onslaught of humiliation mixed in with no small part of self-loathing Ranma tensed, she didn't need this class. Sam had told her that she didn't have to go to school yet if she wasn't ready, and standing there frozen in place as her eyes threatened to mist over she realized that she was far from ready to meet the outside world.

"Young lady?" Charles called out again somewhat impatiently as he realized his earlier question was going unanswered only to immediately regret it as he noticed the girl tense, looking like she was about to bolt out of the class at a moment's notice. Sighing as he stood from behind his desk with the intention of giving the girl some time to compose herself he gently prodded, "Why don't we step out into the hall for a moment so we don't disturb the rest of the class."

Ranma nodded reluctantly, forcing herself to follow behind the teacher and not shove him aside in an effort to escape the room.

Stepping out into the hall Charles waited patiently while the girl nervously shuffled out. Once she had cleared the doorway he in turn closed the door to offer them some privacy before turning to face the girl while putting on his most grandfatherly face to ask, "Are you going to be alright?" Not hearing a answer forthcoming he continued with, "Mr. Smith is a bit of a trouble maker and what he said was uncalled for and inappropriate and for that I apologize." Putting on a slightly sterner visage he added, "Now am I to assume that you are a new student?"

"Yes sir…" Ranma answered meekly after a few moments hesitation, "I just started here today…"

Nodding while he held out his hand Mr. Branson requested, "The office didn't let me know that you were starting today so I'm going to need to see your schedule."

Unable to stop the slight shaking in her hands Ranma nervously reshuffled her books in one hand while holding the small slip of paper with the other.

After retrieving the schedule and glancing over it with his aged eyes Charles replied, "Okay, everything looks to be in order here… Unfortunately, I need to report this incident involving Mr. Smith so I'm going to have to send you to the office as well so you can make your statement to the principal. This school has a zero policy concerning harassment and Mr. Smith was out of line." Noticing the almost relieved expression that fleetingly graced the girls face he added, "I'm not sure how long it's going to take but you might miss the rest of class. I would like to suggest though that you take a few minutes to compose yourself before heading to the office."

Exhaling a breath she hadn't realized she was holding Ranma tried not to show just how grateful she was to escape the leering and judgmental eyes of her would be peers. Secure in the knowledge that she wasn't going to be retuning to school the next day she afforded the man a small almost nonexistent smile before turning to make a break for it, only to pause in further embarrassment as she realized that she had started off in the wrong direction.

"Young lady…" Charles called out, "You're going to need a pass…"

Flushing as she awkwardly turned to wait for the teacher to fill out a hall pass for her Ranma began to feel anxiety creeping over as she realized that there was a possibility of having to confront the boy sent to the office before she would be allowed to leave for the secure confines of the mountain.

12321

With her uncertainty and anxiety growing with each step Ranma slowly trekked down the hall with the hopes of stalling the almost certain confrontation off. Pausing as she neared a washroom the sometimes girl considered going inside to take the teachers advice to compose herself a bit before going to the office. Sure she wasn't in tears at the moment but with her current fluttering emotional state she could start any minute.

Just as she was about to open the door to go inside she caught sight of the placard on the door and stopped, realizing she had just been about to enter the boy's bathroom. Sighing in depression as the little placard seemed to throw her part time male status back in her face and mock her Ranma slowly leaned into the wall while hugging herself as tears started making their way out of her eyes.

"_It's not fair… I'm a really a guy… why can't I just be a guy… I wouldn't have to worry about guys leering at me… skin tight clothing… What type of underwear… Wouldn't be so short… It's not fair…" The redhead _lamented, ignoring the muffled noises coming from the washroom. Slinking down the wall until her legs were curled into her chest the distraught teen slipped deeper into her depression as she realized she was crying, something that just served to reinforce her whole mental image of being a weak little girl.

Just as she was lowering her head into her knees Ranma heard the bathroom door slam open just seconds before she felt someone collide with her sending her over onto her side. Ashamed at being caught in such a position the redhead blearily opened her eyes and stared across the floor at the person whom had tripped over her while trying to block out the mocking laughter that taunted her so.

Slowly she began to move, her eyes not leaving the back of the boys head as if she was waiting for him to just turn around to lay into her. Much to her surprise though he didn't turn around right away, favoring instead to quickly scramble to his feet and start dashing down the hall as if someone was chasing him.

Ranma continued to watch him go, disbelief clear on her face as her expectations went unfulfilled. Then though as if the boy was privy to her thoughts, just as he reached a intersection in the hall, he quickly shot a look back at her drawing the sometimes girl's attention to the fact that the boys hair was thoroughly soaked along with a good portion of his shirt.

Confused by the lack of verbal accusations Ranma slowly climbed to her feet, still trying to block out the mocking chuckles that were forcing themselves into her head.

It was only when she was about halfway to her feet that she realized that the laughter was not a figment of her imagination.

"Ahh… That was great… and made a bit of money too…" Jake Smith muttered to himself as he shoved a small handful of bills into his pocket. "Stupid Asian bitch probably got me suspended anyway so it's not like one more small infraction matters…"

With a growing sense of dread Ranma finished climbing to her feet as she recognized the voice from before.

"Hello… What do we have here?" Jake said to himself with a smile as he realized his good fortune.

Not wanting to believe what her ears were telling her Ranma turned around hoping that she was just imagining the whole thing.

"It's you…" Jake announced happily as he smiled evilly.

"…Me…" Ranma stuttered anxiously while taking a step back.

"I'm so happy to run into you here…"

"You are?" Ranma gulped uneasily as she took another step back.

"Oh yes… I needed to thank you…" Jake continued while forcing the girl to back up into a wall, "You know… For getting me kicked out of class… I just thought I should show you a bit of gratitude… That's all…"

Gulping as she realized she had allowed herself to be trapped between the wall and the large over six feet frame in front of her Ranma knew that gratitude was the last thing on the boys mind, especially when he placed his arms on either side of her to block any attempts at a escape.

"Now… Now… No need to be in such a hurry…" Jake taunted as he leaned in close, "I just want to apologize for what I said back in class, I was just joking around."

Ranma stood with her back frozen against the wall, feeling trapped and unable to move.

"I'm not such a bad guy… Honest." Jake tried smoothly, "You'll see…"

"I'll see?" Ranma parroted back unsurely as she became even more uncomfortable with the way the boy was leering at her. It reminded her a little too much of the way that one NID agent had looked at her while he had slowly cut away her clothes. Sure her eyes had been closed for most of it but at the end right after she had heard Cassie's scream she had seen the look of lust in the man's eyes right before it had turned into something else, shock… fear… surprise at losing his hand…

Those looks didn't matter though, sure they continued to haunt her but somehow now those looks paled in comparison to the fleeting glimpse of lust she had gotten from the man before she had reacted.

"Oh yes… Once you get to know me on a more… Intimate level… I'm just a big soft teddy bear."

Ranma flinched away from the other teens face wincing as the boys coarse hot breath trickled across her skin. Desperately she tried to not panic, but the entire situation was just forcing the memories of what had happened in the woods onto her.

Jake smiled when he caught a glimpse of the girls hand starting to curl up like she was going to take a swing at him. Laughing at the idea that such a petite girl could actually hurt him he prodded, "Ohh… Are you going to take a swing at me… I'm hurt… you should be careful, a pretty girl like you could chip a nail or hurt yourself trying to throw a punch."

Ranma stopped in alarm as she un curled her hand, the boys words having drawn her back into the present, thus preventing herself from unintentionally repeating her actions and literally ripping the boy apart. "_This isn't back then… I'm not out there… It's not the same thing…" _

"You know… You shouldn't hide behind these glasses." Jake stated as he used one hand remove Ranma's glasses, "You have such pretty eyes…"

"Give them back…" Ranma growled suddenly.

"Or what?" the large teen mocked.

It was like a switch had been flipped in the redheads mind as she glared angrily up at the large boy. Moments before she had almost lost control to her fears but now she was somehow pushing them aside to focus on the boy in front of her. She knew that she couldn't use her 'meta-powers' to take Cassie's gift back. But that didn't mean that she was completely powerless either.

"Is the weak little girl gonna cry? Wanna go home to your mommy and daddy to hide under your bed?"

"Weak…" Ranma muttered in disbelief, Teal'c had proven to her in their spar that she wasn't weak. That there really wasn't that much anyone without a weapon could do to hurt her. But in a moment of realization she realized that despite the Jaffa's efforts she had been continuing down the same path, cowering in upon herself because she was afraid. Afraid of what she knew she could control based on her own actions. And now that same fear was letting the boy looming over her exploit that weakness and turn it back onto her.

Firming her resolve to make an active change within herself, the current girl calmly unfurled her hands and warned, "I'm not going to ask again. Give them back…"

"Naw… I think I'll hold onto them a bit longer if you don't mind." Jake replied curiously as he wondered what she would try.

Now while Ranma knew that she shouldn't hurt the other teen too badly there were also a few other things to take into consideration. Of the most prominent of those there was the matter of what would happen to her should the Jack and Sam find out about it. She was supposed to maintain a low profile and not try to pull undue attention upon herself. Yet at the same time she was at a loss at how to deal with the situation. Back before she had been cursed the answer would have been simple, now though she realized that she had too much to lose.

However just because she could not demonstrate her complete skills on the obnoxious teen she was a master martial artist and had several more subtle options available to her. With that thought in mind the small slip of a girl decided to make her move and stepped down lightly on the boy's foot.

"Oooouuchh…" Jake yelped, "You little bitch…"

Well lightly for her anyway.

"Ohh, I'm sorry mister… I didn't see your foot there, here let me help you." Ranma replied innocently as she made a move that to if someone was watching they would think that she was just trying to steady the larger boy as he hopped around while clutching his foot.

- SLAM -

"My head…" Jake groaned out as he lost his balance and slammed head first into the wall.

"I'm so sorry mister… I'm really trying but I'm just a weak little girl… And you're just so big and heavy." Ranma added with an increasingly faux accent as she swiped her glasses away from the boy in preparation for the finishing move.

- WHAM - THUD -

Wincing at the slight bounce the other kids head had done when he slammed into the ground Ranma added while switching to a thicker even more stereo typical accent, "Oh no… Mist'a you aw wight… Me sooo sowwy… Me go get nurse…" After double checking with a glance to make sure she hadn't really hurt the kid too badly the teen started to make her way to the office but not before muttering to herself, "Perhaps the leg sweep was a bit too much."

Hearing a low moan from behind her Ranma shook her head and replied, "Nah…"

12321

End Flashback

12321

"Oh my god Ranma… Are you okay?" Cassie fretted worriedly as she quickly alternated between watching the road and looking at her friend while looking for a spot to pull over.

"I'm okay… It's just been a long day… I don't feel good… I probably just need a bit of guy time…" Ranma answered tiredly, with holding the fact that she really just wanted to go sleep for a week.

"If you're sure." Cassandra replied while mentally resolving herself to talk to Ranma about her prior friends and what happened to cause the split. She knew she needed to do it soon just so her friend wouldn't feel guilty about it but at the same time she realized that right now there were other more pressing matters at hand. "Did you get in trouble?"

"I don't know. I hope not." Ranma replied quietly, "I gave the note the teacher gave to the principal he asked me a few questions but I left out what happened in the hall. He did stop by to give me a letter while I was with the tutor though so maybe the other guy said something… I dunno… The principal told me not to open it and give it to one of my guardians."

"Did they try to call?"

"No… Not that I know of anyway." Ranma responded, "I just hope that I can go back tomorrow."

"You want to go back?" Cassie questioned dubiously. Thinking that if her first day of school had been like Ranma's then there was no way she would even consider going back.

"Yeah… I'm not really sure why but I think it's something I need to do…" Ranma stated out loud before mentally adding, "_I have to prove to myself that I'm not weak, that I can handle this."_

Feeling worried and now knowing that Ranma was sharing those worries about the contents of the letter Cassie suggested, "Ranma, why don't you let me deliver the letter to Sam while you change?"

"I don't know… I mean shouldn't I be the one to deliver it?" Ranma questioned back not really sure if she could bare the disappointment in Sam's eyes if she had managed to get kicked out of school on her first day.

"Well technically… but Sam can be pretty hard to track down sometimes and she might have had to go off world… I just figured I could find her and bring her to your room there while giving you a chance to change…" Seeing the worried look her friend was giving her Cassandra added, "I'm sure it's just about the incident in the class room, the principal would have said something otherwise… I think…"

Ranma nodded and replied with relief evident in her voice, "Thanks… Cassie…"

1234321

Stargate Command several minutes later

12321

After leaving his XO to her devices while they waited for Ranma to get back from school Jack roamed aimlessly through the halls. Sure he had paper work that he could possibly catch up with but the anticipation he was feeling for Ranma and his first day of school was serving to be a more useful distraction, more so than his gameboy. After a while of wandering though he realized that Ranma would probably stopping by the infirmary first as the current girl would most likely swing by with Cassie before running off to his on base quarters to change both gender and clothes for a little bit of training.

With an actual direction in mind Jack briefly glanced down at his watch wandering if perhaps he should track down some of the others too. Fortunately for the other three members of SG1 the man decided against tracking them down as he wanted to catch Ranma before the teen had a chance to run off and train.

12321

"Doc… Carter…" Jack greeted as he stepped into the infirmary only to realize that his blonde major had beat him there, "So that project you were going to finish up in your lab is done?"

"Ah… No sir…" Sam replied guiltily at having been caught in a slight misrepresentation of the facts. Sure there was a project she was working on and yes it was nearly done but it at the moment she was still waiting on the simulation reports before she could go any further with it.

"Colonel, what brings you here? Don't I usually have to drag you down here?" Janet asked already knowing the answer.

Taking his gaze off of his teammate Jack shrugged, "Well… It's been awhile since I've been blinded with your little pen light and I was feeling a bit nostalgic."

"Uhuh…" Janet clucked in disbelief before adding, "And I suppose that the fact that Ranma should be back from her first day of school any minute now has nothing to do with it."

"Oh was that today?" Jack asked while feigning ignorance, "I hadn't realized."

Rolling her eyes at her CO's antics Sam announced, "Don't let him try to fool you he knows, it's all he's been talking about all day."

"Hmmm… Well take a seat and make yourself comfortable Colonel." Janet replied while motioning to one of the vacant beds, "I'll be right over for my long awaited attempt at blinding you with my little pen light." Moving over to shuffle through one of the drawers the petite red haired doctor prompted, "So these memory problems have been going for how long?"

"What memory problems?" Jack asked unsurely.

"hmm… That's not good…" Janet stated clinically as she pulled out a little tape recorder before continuing, "Note patient is apparently suffering from short term memory loss."

"He knew that it was going to be Ranma's first day yesterday." Sam added helpfully.

Shooting his XO a mock look of betrayal Jack questioned, "Et Tu Carter?"

"Correction Patient seems to be suffering from both long and short term memory loss." Janet amended while pulling out a rather large Maglite flashlight before adding to her blonde cohort, "Sam I might need you to hold him down for me while I check his pupils for any sign of brain damage."

"Hey now…" Jack protested while waving off the intimidating petite redheaded doctor, "There's no need to bring out the big guns. I was just fooling around…"

"Patient seems hostile and might require sedation." Janet added not even bothering to speak into the small recorder.

"Uhm… Is everything okay?"

"Phew… You're a life saver Cassie…" Jack sighed in relief before glancing back at the menacing doctor and adding, "I definitely owe you one."

Smiling at her daughter as she set the Maglite aside Janet asked, "How was school?"

"It was okay." Cassie shrugged nervously, dreading over the contents in the letter she was carrying.

"Just okay?" Jack asked from his position on the bed.

"Well…" Cassie shuffled awkwardly, "Everything went well up until third period…"

Noticing the letter in her daughters hands Janet asked, "Did you get in trouble?"

Shaking her head in denial the brunette sighed, "No… But there was an incident… "

"An incident?" Sam questioned worriedly wondering if her niece had accidentally lost control of her newly found powers.

"You didn't do anything… You know… With your mind and the magnet thingy's did you?" Jack asked in concern.

Shaking her head rapidly the teen answered, "I wasn't there."

"So did something happen with Ranma then?" Sam asked worriedly.

Nodding her head as she stepped up to the blonde major and presented her with the note Cassandra replied, "Ranma told me about it… It wasn't her fault…"

"It's okay Cassandra, I'm sure that if it was serious they would have called into the switchboard." Janet replied as she stepped behind Sam's shoulder to get a glimpse of the letter.

"So where is Ranma anyway?" Jack asked as he hopped off the bed.

Not wanting to tell them that she was buying Ranma a bit of time by giving the note to them thus insuring that they would at least have a few minutes to calm down before confronting Ranma about what happened Cassie replied, "Ranma went to change back into a guy and get some training in before dinner."

"Uhm… Okay…" Sam drawled out as she opened the letter and began to read it.

Cassandra fidgeted nervously as she stood there watching Sam open and read the letter. Noticing the miniscule beginnings of an angry frown the Brunette felt it necessary to help plead Ranma's case as obviously the letter must contain details about the confrontation in the hall. Clearly nervous about speaking the teen licked her suddenly parched feeling lips and started, "It wasn't Ranma's fault… He… She was just going to the office like the teacher told her to… But the guy… Jake… He came out of the washroom and saw her. Ranma tried to get away but she's not allowed to show how strong she is and she got pinned on the wall by the guy… She really tried to get away but he wouldn't let her and she thought he was going to do the same thing that the NID had tried in Minnesota…" Feeling a dam beginning to burst from the pressure of keeping what had actually happened secret for so long the brunette was unable to stop herself as she continued, "He was cutting off her clothes and touching her and she couldn't move… And… And… The guy in the cave… I couldn't fight him off… he was toying with me… Pinning me… I tried… I tried…" Cassandra floundered as she finally broke down into tears and letting out the pent up shame and frustrations that had been stewing within her since the event had transpired.

"Cassie… Hun… It's okay…" Janet hushed as she rushed forward and took her daughter into her arms. She had known that something of the sort had happened but she hadn't pried into it, in the hopes that her daughter would tell her when she was ready. Sure she had Cassandra seeing a trauma counselor under the guise of the general events that had happened but despite that effort her daughter seemed closed off to the outside world with the exception of herself and SG1. Events over the past weekend had began to make it look like her daughter had finally started to recover but Janet realized belatedly that it had just been subdued due to Ranma's presence as the first night that the sometimes girl had stayed at Sam's her daughter had once again climbed into her bed.

"I'm sorry momma… I'm sorry…"

"Shushhhh… It will be okay honey… You'll see… It'll be okay…" Janet comforted softly while stroking her daughters back unaware that the two members of SG1 had left the room.

12321

"Carter…" Jack huffed slightly as he rushed after the Blonde major. "Carter slow down would you…"

"Sir?" Sam offered back as she picked up her pace.

"Dammit Carter… We don't even know what really went on…" Jack fired out as he matched his XO's pace.

"We know enough…" Sam huffed back while dodging around a few airmen.

After glaring at the airmen for getting in the way Jack tried to reason with his major with, "Alright fine… Let's just say we know enough about what went on this afternoon… What then?"

Spinning on her heels while coming to a complete stop the furious blonde major ranted, "I'm going to pull her out of school… That's what… We get tutors… Hell, I'll tutor Ranma by myself if I have to… There's no way I'm letting him go back there after this, not after all that she's been through… Assaulted like that in school and the principal didn't even have the nerve to call me and tell me about it personally…"

"Carter…" Jack tried unsuccessfully to cut off the major's rant before raising his voice and repeating himself, "CARTER…"

"…He'll be lucky if he can get a job as a lunch lady in a federal prison once I get done with him… And that student… Oh is he in trouble… I'm… I'm… not sure what I'm going to do yet… but I'm sure it will be something to make him think twice before even looking at another girl…" Sam trailed off as she realized just how close she was to being insubordinate to her commanding officer.

Running his hand through his graying hair Jack sighed and questioned, "Don't you think we should find out what really happened before you condemn the principal to a life in little white smocks?"

Blushing at having gotten carried away and still angry about what Cassandra had tried to explain to them Sam replied, "Yes sir, sorry about getting carried away like that."

"Eh… No problem Carter, Ranma has a tendency to grow on you rather quickly…" After a moment of silent consideration Jack added, "Bet you didn't think that I was going to be a voice of reason when you woke up today."

"I don't know what you are talking about sir, you are always the voice of reason around here." Sam stated with a playful insincere tone.

1234321

A few minutes later

12321

Wrapped in a towel Ranma sighed as she sat down on the edge of the bed still female despite the fact that she had just taken a rather hot shower. Sending a half hearted glare at the small desk in her quarters where the small Avatar pendant and the dry bar of water proof soap were sitting the slightly damp redhead sighed again.

"_Well so much hoping that it was a onetime fluke…" _Ranma thought to herself, _"Why did it have to be today of all day's… Couldn't it have happened last week before I started school… And for that matter why am I only getting this now I thought Sheila said that this was a monthly thing…"_ Pulled out of her musings by a knock on the door the teen tiredly called out, "Come in."

12321

Hearing Ranma call out Jack swung open the door and politely held it open for his XO and was about to follow her into the room when he was blocked by the majors arm grabbing onto the doorframe. Not having looked past her yet to notice the towel clad girl on the bed Jack grumpily protested, "Carter… What gives?"

Maintaining her grip on the doorframe to prevent her CO access Sam looked over to the slightly wet currently female teen on the bed and said, "Ranma isn't dressed yet."

"Well why'd she tell us to come in?" Jack grumbled as he turned away from the door, "We're not mind readers here… though I suppose it's only a matter of time until one of us can."

Temporarily ignoring her CO Sam apologized, "I'm sorry Ranma, we can come back in a few minutes once you've had time to get dressed."

"SAM WAIT…" Ranma called out slightly desperately right before the older blond had finished closing the door.

Leaving the door only cracked slightly open so as to not give anyone passing by a free show Sam turned back, "Yes?"

Flushing in embarrassment at what she was about to ask the teen continued, "Could you come in here for a second please?"

Starting to whistle a little tune Jack paused just enough to offer up, "I'll just wait right here then."

123321

A few moments later

121

Hearing the door open behind him Jack paused in his whistling once again, upon hearing the sound of approaching boots he asked, "So is everything okay?"

Pausing briefly to address her CO Sam replied, "Yeah, everything is fine, I'll be right back."

"You'll be right back? I thought we were going to talk to Ranma about what happened in school?"

"We are… I just have to go get something from the infirmary first."

"Is Ranma hurt?" Jack asked in minor alarm as the only thing he could conceive Ranma needing from the Infirmary would be bandages or the doctor and since the Major had implied something rather than someone he was leaning towards bandages.

"No… Ranma's fine…" Sam stated carefully before adding, "It's just she just needs something from the infirmary… For you know… Girl issues…"

"Girl issues?" Jack questioned as a look of understanding crossed over his face causing him to let out a somewhat awkward, "Girl issues… Right then… I'll just wait right here then… Yep… I'll just wait right here until after you get back… Just me and the wall here…"

Shaking her head while managing to stifle a slight giggle over the colonel's antics Sam replied, "I'll be right back sir."

1234321

An hour or so later

12321

"Well that's that…" Jack stated with an air of finality before adding, "But if there are any more issues with that kid at school I want you to tell a teacher or at the very least your JROTC instructor, Lieutenant Biggs, I know he's kind of young but he spent some time at the SGC before he was injured on a mission. You can trust him, he's a good man and I've already asked him to look out for you."

"We had a Master Sergeant Kyle today…" Ranma stated before adding, "But Cassie did say she usually had a different instructor for the class."

"Ah… Well that explains that, he was supposed to introduce himself before class…"

Stepping in where her CO had left off Sam added, "It's not that we don't trust you to be able to take care of yourself. And even though you handled the situation, it's not something that you should have had to handle. If that student bothers you again I don't want you to risk confronting him even though you can take care of him we'd much rather have the teachers take care of it, it's part of their job and it might draw undo attention to yourself if you are constantly there when he gets hurt."

"Well that… And this isn't like you're old school where you had to fight for bread… Honestly a bread feud… That's just…" Jack chuckled lightly as he envisioned two kids in a badly dubbed kung fu movie battling over bread, "_Actually now that I think about it… I'm pretty sure I've seen that somewhere…"_

"But it was good bread…" Ranma defended herself weakly, "Besides the guy was a great sparring partner. We were supposed to have one last spar before I left for China but after waiting three days for him my old man jumped me and by the time I woke up we were already at the coast…"

"Well…" Jack started as he thrust his hands into his pockets, "I think Carter has some work to get to before she can leave for the day… And I'm pretty sure that you probably want to go get some kicking and punching in before you leave… So we'll just get going now. Unless there was anything else on your mind?" Snapping his fingers as he spun to leave Jack added, "Oh and I was going to offer but seeing as you're having 'Girl Issues' this weekend probably wouldn't work since you can't change back right now." After giving a slight pause so he could gage the redheads reaction he continued, "But next weekend I figure that we could spend some time running around outside of the base… You know just us guy's… If you want… No pressure…"

"But I thought that I wasn't allowed to?" Ranma questioned back.

Shrugging Jack replied, "You have that soap stuff… Until we get another one of those thingy's from area 51 we'll just have to be careful."

"What about…" Ranma tried to sputter as her mood lightened at the prospect of being a guy outside of the mountain even if it was for a limited time.

Waving off the teens concern Jack stated, "Let me worry about the toadies in Washington…" Then glancing over to the clock in Ranma's on base quarters he added, "But I do need to get going so… Carter…" Stopping just shy of leaving the room Jack paused again and shot out, "Oh… hang in there sport…"

"Hang in there sport?" Sam questioned as she followed her CO down the hall.

"Well duh… Girl issue's… Hello…" Jack fired out carelessly.

"Sir?" Sam questioned dangerously, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Backpedaling lest he face the Major's wrath Jack hurriedly replied, "Well he's a guy… So… This has to be… Difficult… Yeah difficult for him."

Stopping in mid stride the blonde Major realized that her Colonel had a very good point.

1234321

The following Friday

1234321

"So are you excited about this weekend?" Cassie asked as she unlocked the car and threw her bag in the back seat.

"Yep…" Ranma replied, having followed suit before claiming the passenger seat.

"Did Jack tell you what he had planned?"

"Nope. He said he wanted it to be a surprise."

Smiling as she started up the car Cassie replied, "Well whatever it is I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun. Jack's a pretty cool guy… Hey do you mind if I make a quick stop?"

"Hmm? What?"

"I wanted to swing by my place so I can change out of this uniform. We can swing by Sam's too so you can change if you want?"

"No it's okay, no sense in changing twice." Ranma shrugged back causing his friend to give her a rather odd look. "What? Do I got something on my face?"

"Uhhm noooo…" Cassie drawled out slowly. "I just figured that you'd want to change out of that… You know because…"

"The skirt?" Ranma replied before continuing at her friends nod, "Well this morning… But I don't know… It's not so bad… I mean, it's part of the Uniform, your mom wears one every day and Sam wears one occasionally…"

"I know, but you didn't have to wear one today, Lieutenant Biggs said that since they didn't have a slacks in your size you could wait a few weeks before wearing the uniform to school."

"I know," Ranma sighed, "But over the past week and a half I've done a lot of thinking… I just want to fit in at school and not wearing a uniform on the one day a week would make me stand out more… Sides, since this is on loan from your mom I still technically don't own a skirt."

Nodding the brunette asked, "It's just with what happened that first day I just thought that you wouldn't be… You know… Comfortable wearing a skirt at school."

After pausing to consider her answer the redheaded teen incased in the standard light blue short sleeved dress shirt and blue skirt with all the markings of a Airforce JROTC student replied, "As I said it's a Uniform… School isn't that bad… Sure the first several day's were pretty rough but for the most part I was only having problems in third period and that was mostly because of that Smith guy…"

"Ooh… Right… I heard he got in school detention for a week for mouthing off to a teacher on his first day back from being suspended." Cassie interrupted before adding, "At least that's what I heard…"

"Yep, me too…" Ranma replied not mentioning that it had in fact that it had been herself whom had told Cassie earlier in the week. Leaning back in the seat and stretching out her arms the shorter teen added cheerfully, "But none of that matters right now, cause it's the weekend, I'm not PMS'ing anymore and I get to spend all weekend as a guy off base."

1234321

Sgc a short time later

12321

"Hey mom, is Jack around?" Cassie greeted warmly as she followed Ranma into the infirmary.

"Right here kiddo." Jack stated warmly as he stepped out of the small washroom wearing his full dress uniform.

"Hey Jack," Ranma announced happily before asking, "Would it be okay if I worked out for a bit before we left?"

"Yeah… About that…" Jack stalled before noting the perfect distraction entering the infirmary dressed in her dress blues.

"Sir did you have a chance to talk to Ranma about tonight?"

"Not yet…" Jack supplied while glaring at his newly arrived 2IC.

"What about tonight? Are we in a hurry?" Ranma asked in confusion before she noticed that both Jack and Sam were in their dress uniforms, "How come you guys are wearing your dress uniforms? Are we going somewhere? Cause I should probably change so I don't get anything on Cassie's moms skirt."

"Ranma… About tonight…" Jack started off slowly, "Something came up and I'm going to have to cancel."

Feeling dejected over Jack bailing out on her the redheaded teens shoulders slumped while she sighed out, "That's okay Jack… I need to try to catch up on my training anyway… I don't want to lose my edge you know…"

"Ranma…" Jack tried as the teen started to leave the room, "It's not like that… Carter back me up here."

Blocking the crestfallen redheads path so that she couldn't leave Sam added, "It's true, we have to go off world for a funeral of one of our allies."

"I wouldn't call them 'allies'…" Jack grumbled quietly, "Bunch of holier than thou…"

"Sir…" Sam chastised with a roll of her eyes, "They have their reasons for not trading technology to us…"

"Look… All I am saying is that maybe next time we hold off on helping them out for a bit… You know, sort of a you scratch our backs we save your butts deal…" Jack shot off before turning his attention back to Ranma. "The funeral is in a few hours and we won't be back until late tonight but that still gives us all day tomorrow and Sunday to hang around doing manly guy stuff. So what do you say? Still wanna hang out with this old man?"

Ranma sighed in relief, glad that the older man was not just trying for a polite means to get out of their planned weekend together. "I'm guessing that Sam is going too?" Ranma asked despite having already arrived at that conclusion based on what her gaurdian was wearing.

"Yes, I'm sorry Ranma but…" Sam started before shooting her Colonel a look daring him to disagree before adding, "But the invitation was to all members of SG1."

"I'm sorry to hear that Aunty Sam…" Cassie interjected politely before switching to, "Does that mean that Ranma is staying here tonight?"

Resisting the urge to mutter teenagers at the way that her niece had managed to switch gears Sam nodded and answered, "I already asked your mom, she said she was okay with her if Ranma wanted to spend the night at your house." Switching her gaze back to the redhead Sam continued, "It's up to you, of course, but Janet has to come in tommarow morning anyway so you can ride back here with her in the morning to meet up with the colonel."

"Come on, it'll be fun…" Cassie pleaded with a smile.

Despite the fact that she had already moved past Jack having to cancel on her tonight Ranma still managed to slowly drawl out a resigned, "I guess… I mean… I do have this nice and lumpy bed here… Food whenever I want it…" holding back a smile she continued, "Plenty of bland grey scenery to help me pass the time…"

123454321

Later that night

1234321

"You should wear the cape…" Cassie stated from her position on the couch as she looked up from having just finished painting her toenails on one foot. Trying to not stare too long at her currently plutonic girlfriend lest her mind start wandering to other thoughts concerning the tight somewhat revealing blue and red super girl themed pajamas the redhead was wearing she added, "It's part of the whole ensemble you know."

Uncurling her feet out from beneath her as she temporarily set the paperback book she was reading down in favor of stretching herself out, Ranma huffed, "Uhh uhn… Not going to wear it…"

"Why not?" Cassie asked as she grabbed Ranma's book and started to use it to fan her toes.

"It's dorky looking." the redhead answered plainly while making a slow half hearted grab to retrieve her book.

"Is not…" Cassie shot back while flipping the book over to read it's cover. "A dummies guide to first aide? What's this for?"

"Give it back…" Ranma whined slightly in embarrassment before making a lunge for it.

Not yet wanting to give the book back Cassie leaned to the side and extended her arm trying to keep the book away from her friend until she could get a better look at it. Unfortunately she had forgotten that while Ranma was considerably shorter than her the petite redhead was insanely quick when she wanted to be, so in a last ditch effort to keep the book away she tried levitating it with her mind hoping that there were staples or something in it so her powers could keep it aloft. Then to further that goal, just as the redhead extended herself over her she reached out and grabbed the smaller girl by the waist, pinning her in a hug.

"Hey… No cheating…" Ranma whined before pausing to stare at the simple paperback book floating in midair, "…Err… Cassie?"

"Yeah…" the taller of the two replied somewhat reluctantly with a sigh as her face flushed from the confusing mix of emotions that were being brought forth from the clumsy embrace.

"How sure are you about your abilities? You know the electromagnet thing…"

"Pretty sure…" the girl answered while valiantly trying to advert her eyes from her friends in the hopes that by not looking at the shiny blue orbs she wouldn't focus on them and thus break the mesmerizing spell they were starting to weave upon her.

"Well it's just that that book is a paperback held together by glue."

"huh… Wait… Are you sure?"

x


End file.
